Lebanese Forces

The Lebanese Forces (LF) (Arabic: القوات اللبنانية‎ al-Quwwāt al-Libnānīyah; Syriac: ܚܝܠܘܬܐ ܠܒܢܢܝܐ ḥailaoṯe lebnonoye) may refer to

• The Lebanese Forces militia during the Lebanese Civil War, originally created in 1976 as an umbrella organization co-ordinating all the right-wing party militias of the Lebanese Front, and later developing into a separate organization from those parties in the mid-1980s.

• The Lebanese Forces Party, a modern Lebanese political party, which evolved out of the membership of the armed organization, and is led by Samir Geagea, former commander-in-chief of the armed organization.The political party is not in any way related to the armed organization founded by Bachir el Gemayel. The party has eight of the sixty-four Christian seats in Lebanese parliament and as such is the second largest party of the Christian community.

The organization was created by the Gemayels, Camille Chamoun, and other party leaders during the Lebanese Civil War. It was initially a conglomerate of the various right-wing party militias, placed under the control of a council composed of various party representatives. The Kataeb Regulatory Forces provided the largest share of fighters and the Kataeb had the largest share on the council. Despite its original creation from party militias, the Lebanese Forces accepted new recruits without any specific party allegiance.

The movement fought as the main militia within the Christian-dominated Lebanese Front.

During the civil war, the LF fought different opponents at different times: The Palestinian Liberation Organization, the LNM, the LNRF, the Syrian Army, the Druze PSP in the Chouf, and the Lebanese Army loyal to General Aoun.

In In the mid-1980s, political friction within the Lebanese Front resulted in growing distance between the Kataeb militants and the rest of the Lebanese Forces. In the end the Lebanese Forces and Kataeb became two separate forces within the Lebanese Front.

After the civil war ended, Samir Geagea created the Lebanese Forces Party. In 1994, while Lebanon was under Syrian occupation the party was banned, Geagea imprisoned, and the activities of its militants repressed by the Lebanese services in Lebanon. The Lebanese Forces returned as a political force after the Cedar Revolution in early 2005, which resulted in a withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon. Soon after, Geagea was subsequently released from prison and continues to lead the party today.