Galilee

==History==
{{Further|History of Palestine}}

===Iron Age and Hebrew Bible===
[[File:Ancient Galilee.jpg|thumb|170px|Map of Galilee, c. {{nowrap|50 CE}}]]

According to the [[Bible]], Galilee was named by the Israelites and was the tribal region of Naphthali and Dan, at times overlapping the [[Tribe of Asher]]'s land.<ref name=JVL>{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/tribemap.html|title=Map of the Twelve Tribes of Israel &#124; Jewish Virtual Library|publisher=jewishvirtuallibrary.org|access-date=2015-05-18}}</ref> Normally,{{when|date=August 2014}} Galilee is just referred to as Naphthali.

Chapter 9 of [[1 Kings]] states that [[Solomon]] rewarded his [[Phoenicia]]n ally, [[King Hiram I]] of [[Sidon]], with twenty cities in the land of Galilee, which would then have been either settled by foreigners during and after the reign of Hiram, or by those who had been forcibly deported there by later conquerors such as the [[Assyria]]ns. Hiram, to reciprocate previous gifts given to [[David]], accepted the upland plain among the Naftali Mountains and renamed it "the land of [[Cabul]]" for a time.<ref name=Phoenicia>Rawlinson, George (1889). "Phoenicia under the hegemony of Tyre (B.C. 1252–877)". ''History of Phoenicia''.</ref>

=== Hellenistic period ===
Up until the end of the [[Hellenistic period]] and before the [[Hasmonean dynasty|Hasmonean]] conquest, the Galilee was sparsely populated, with the majority of its inhabitants concentrated in large fortified centers on the edges of the western and central valleys. Based on archeological evidence from [[Tel Anafa]], [[Kedesh]], and ash-Shuhara, the Upper Galilee was then home to a pagan population with close ties to the [[Phoenicia|Phoenician]] coast.<ref name="Leibner2009" />

Yardenna Alexandre discovered minor short-lived Israelite settlements in the Naḥal Ẓippori basin, which were built by survivors of the Assyrian conquest. Elsewhere, Galilee was depopulated.<ref name="Atiqot98">{{cite journal |author=Yardenna Alexandre |year=2020 |title=The Settlement History of Nazareth in the Iron Age and Early Roman Period |url=http://www.atiqot.org.il/download.ashx?id=1797 |url-status=live |journal='Atiqot |volume=98 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200526102938/http://www.atiqot.org.il/download.ashx?id=1797 |archive-date=26 May 2020 |access-date=26 May 2020}}</ref> But there is evidence of Assyrian presence, based on artefacts in [[Cana]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Skinner |first=Andrew C. |date=1996–1997 |title=A Historical Sketch of Galilee |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43044121 |journal=Brigham Young University Studies |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=113–125 |jstor=43044121 |via=JSTOR}}</ref> and [[Konrad Schmid (theologian)|Konrad Schmid]] and Jens Schroter believe it was likely that Assyrians settled in the region.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schmid |first=Konrad |title=The Making of the Bible: From the First Fragments to Sacred Scripture |last2=Schroter |first2=Jens |publisher=Belknap Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-0674248380}}</ref>

===Hasmonean period===
During the expansion of the [[Hasmonean dynasty|Hasmonean kingdom of Judea]], much of the Galilee region was conquered and annexed by the first Hasmonean king [[Aristobulus I]] (104–103 BCE). Following the Hasmonean conquest, there was a significant Jewish influx into the area. Sites including [[Yodfat]], [[Meiron]], [[Sepphoris]], [[Shikhin]], [[Kafr Kanna|Qana]], [[Bersabe]], [[Selamin|Zalmon]], Mimlah, [[Magdala|Migdal]], [[Arbel]], Kefar Hittaya, and Beth Ma'on have archeological-chronological evidence for this settlement wave.<ref name="Leibner2009" /> 
[[File:Almog_IL5_Yodfat.jpg|thumb|The hill where ancient [[Yodfat]] stood]]
[[Josephus]], who based his account on [[Timagenes|Timagenes of Alexandria]], claimed that Aristobulus I had forcibly converted the [[Iturea|Itureans]] to Judaism while annexing a portion of their territory. Schürer believed this information to be accurate and came to the conclusion that the "Jewish" Galilee of Jesus' day was actually inhabited by the offspring of those same Iturean converts. Other scholars have suggested that the Itureans underwent a voluntary conversion to Judaism in the Upper Galilee, or at the very least in the Eastern Upper Galilee. However, archeological information does not support either proposal, as Iturean material culture has been identified clearly in the northern Golan Heights and Mount Hermon, and not in the Galilee, and it is clear that this area remained outside Hasmonean borders.<ref name="Leibner2009" />

=== Roman period ===
Following the Roman conquest of Judaea, a second, more significant wave of Jewish settlement arrived in the Galilee. Large and significant towns were established at the end of the first century BCE or the start of the first century CE, including [[Kafr 'Inan|Kefar Hananya]], [[Farradiyya|Parod]], [[Ravid]], Mashkaneh, Sabban, and [[Tiberias]].<ref name="Leibner2009" /> Josephus describes the Jewish settlers of Galilee as being nationalist and hostile to Jewish city-dwellers, making them the first target for the Romans during the [[Jewish–Roman wars|Jewish-Roman wars]]. [[Bargil Pixner]] believes they descended from a [[Davidic line|Davidic]] Jewish clan from [[Neo-Babylonian Empire|Babylon]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Skinner |first=Andrew C. |date=1996–1997 |title=A Historical Sketch of Galilee |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43044121 |journal=Brigham Young University Studies |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=113–125 |jstor=43044121 |via=JSTOR}}</ref> 
In the first century CE, the Galilee was dotted with small towns and villages. Josephus claims that there were 204 small towns in Galilee, but modern scholars believe this estimate to be an exaggeration. Many of these towns were located around the Sea of Galilee, which contained many edible fish and which was surrounded by fertile land. Salted, dried, and pickled fish were an important [[export good]]. In 4 BCE, a rebel named Judah plundered Galilee's largest city, [[Sepphoris]]. According to Josephus, the Syrian governor [[Publius Quinctilius Varus]] responded by sacking Sepphoris and selling the population into slavery, but the region's archaeology lacks evidence of such destruction.<ref name="Meyers1999">Eric M. Meyers,'Sepphoris on the Eve of the Great Revolt (67–68 C.E.): Archaeology and Josephus,' in Eric M. Meyers,''Galilee Through the Centuries: Confluence of Cultures,'' Eisenbrauns, 1999 pp.109ff., p. 114:(Josephus, Ant. 17.271-87; War 2.56–69).</ref><ref name="Casey2010">{{cite book|last=Casey|first=Maurice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lXK0auknD0YC&q=The+area+surrounding+Nazareth+was+fertile&pg=PA194|title=Jesus of Nazareth: An Independent Historian's Account of His Life and Teaching|date=2010|publisher=T & T Clark|isbn=978-0-567-64517-3|location=New York City, New York and London, England|pages=164–169|author-link=Maurice Casey}}</ref>[[File:Herod Antipas.jpg|thumb|right|As a Roman [[client state|client ruler]], [[Herod Antipas]], the [[Herodian Tetrarchy|tetrarch of Galilee]] from 4 BCE–39 CE, was permitted to mint his own coinage (''shown above'').<ref name=Sanders1993>{{cite book|last=Sanders|first=E. P.|title=The Historical Figure of Jesus|date=1993|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0-14-014499-4|location=London, England, New York City, New York, Ringwood, Australia, Toronto, Ontario, and Auckland, New Zealand|pages=20–22|author-link=E. P. Sanders}}</ref>]]

After the death of [[Herod the Great]] that same year, his son [[Herod Antipas]] was appointed as [[Herodian Tetrarchy|tetrarch of Galilee]] by the Roman emperor [[Augustus]]. Galilee remained a Roman [[client state]] and Antipas paid tribute to the [[Roman Empire]] in exchange for Roman protection. The Romans did not station troops in Galilee, but threatened to retaliate against anyone who attacked it. As long as he continued to pay tribute, Antipas was permitted to govern however he wished<ref name=Sanders1993/> and was permitted to mint his own coinage. Antipas was relatively observant of Jewish laws and customs. Although his palace was decorated with animal carvings, which many Jews regarded as a transgression against the law prohibiting idols, his coins bore only agricultural designs, which his subjects deemed acceptable.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

In general, Antipas was a capable ruler; Josephus does not record any instance of his use of force to put down an uprising and he had a long, prosperous reign. However, many Jews probably resented him as not sufficiently devout.<ref name="Sanders1993" /> Antipas rebuilt the city of Sepphoris<ref name="Casey2010" /> and, in either 18 CE or 19 CE, he founded the new city of [[Tiberias]]. These two cities became Galilee's largest cultural centers.<ref name="Sanders1993" /> They were the main centers of Greco-Roman influence, but were still predominantly Jewish. A massive gap existed between the rich and poor,<ref name="Casey2010" /> but lack of uprisings suggest that taxes were not exorbitantly high and that most Galileans did not feel their livelihoods were being threatened.<ref name="Sanders1993" />

Late in his reign, Antipas married his half-niece [[Herodias]], who was already married to one of her other uncles. His wife, whom he divorced, fled to her father [[Aretas IV Philopatris|Aretas]], an Arab king, who invaded Galilee and defeated Antipas's troops before withdrawing. Both Josephus and the [[Gospel of Mark]]<ref>''Bible'', {{bibleverse|Mark|6:17–29|9}}</ref> record that the itinerate preacher [[John the Baptist]] criticized Antipas over his marriage and Antipas consequently had him imprisoned and then [[Beheading of John the Baptist|beheaded]].<ref name="Sanders1993" /> In around 39 CE, at the urging of [[Herodias]], Antipas went to Rome to request that he be elevated from the status of tetrarch to the status of king. The Romans found him guilty of storing arms, so he was removed from power and exiled, ending his forty-three-year reign. During the [[First Jewish–Roman War|Great Revolt]] (66–73 CE), a Jewish mob destroyed Herod Antipas's palace.<ref name="Sanders1993" />

[[File:Petri Fischzug Raffael.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Jesus and the [[miraculous catch of fish]], in the Sea of Galilee. Many people in Roman-era Galilee were fishermen.<ref name=Casey2010/>]]

=== Late Roman period ===
Judaism reached its political and cultural zenith in the Galilee during the late second and early third century CE. According to rabbinic sources, [[Judah ha-Nasi]]'s political leadership was at its strongest in relation to the Jewish community in [[Syria Palaestina]], the Diaspora, and the Roman Authorities during this time. Judah's redaction of the [[Mishnah]] at this time period represented the peak of intense cultural activity. Archaeological surveys in the Galilee have revealed that the region experienced its height of thriving settlement during this time.<ref name="Leibner2009">{{Cite book |last=Leibner |first=Uzi |url=https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/43969 |title=Settlement and History in Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine Galilee: An Archaeological Survey of the Eastern Galilee |date=2009 |publisher=Mohr Siebeck |isbn=978-3-16-151460-9 |pages=321-324; 362-371; 396-400; 414-416 |language=English}}</ref>

According to medieval Hebrew legend, [[Shimon bar Yochai]], one of the most famed of all the [[tannaim]], wrote the ''[[Zohar]]'' while living in Galilee.<ref>{{cite book |author=Scharfstein, S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uFuBCOzObf0C |title=Jewish History and You |date=2004 |publisher=Ktav Pub. Inc. |isbn=978-0-88125-806-6 |page=24 |access-date=2015-05-18}}</ref>

=== Byzantine period ===
After the completion of the Mishnah, which marked the conclusion of the [[Tannaim|tannaitic]] era, came the period of the ''[[amoraim]]''. The [[Jerusalem Talmud]], the principal work of the amoraim in Palestine, is primarily discussions and interpretations of the Mishnah, and according to academic research, most of it was edited in [[Tiberias]]. The vast majority of the ''amoraim'' named there, as well as the majority of the settlements or place names referenced, were Galileans.<ref name="Leibner2009" /> By the middle of the fourth century, the Jerusalem Talmud's compilation and editing processes abruptly came to a halt, as Talmudic scholar Yaacov Sussmann put it: "The development of the Jerusalem Talmud seems to have abruptly ceased, as if severed by a sharp and sudden blade".<ref>Sussmann 1990: 67–103</ref><ref name="Leibner2009" />

Demographically, during the fourth century the entire region witnessed a significant population decrease, resulting in the abandonment of several notable settlements.<ref name="Leibner2009" /> In approximately 320 CE, Christian bishop [[Epiphanius of Salamis|Epiphanius]] reported that all the major cities and villages in Galilee were entirely Jewish.<ref>Epiphanius'', Panarion'' 30.11.9–10</ref> During the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] period, however, Galilee's Jewish population experienced a decline, while Christian settlement grew. Archaeological data indicates that in the third and fourth centuries, several Jewish sites were abandoned, and some Christian villages were established on or near these deserted locations. Certain settlements, such as [[Rameh|Rama]], [[Magdala]], [[Kafr Kanna]], [[Daburiyya]], and [[Iksal]], which were materially Jewish during the Roman period, were now predominantly inhabited by Christians or had a significant Christian population. Safrai and Liebner argue that the decline of the Jewish population and the expansion of the Christian population in the region were separate events that happened at different times. Throughout this period, religious segregation between Christian and Jewish villages endured, with few exceptions like [[Capernaum]] and perhaps [[Nazareth]], due to their sanctity in Christian tradition.<ref name="Leibner2009" />

Leibner has proposed tying the end of the Palestinian Amoraic period, the impact of historical occurrences like the [[Historiography of Christianization of the Roman Empire|Christianization of the Roman Empire]] and of Palestine, the apparent cessation of activities of at least some of the [[Beth midrash|''batei midrash'']] and the transformation of the Galilee from a densely populated Jewish area to a collection of communities surrounded by non-Jewish areas to this demographic crisis. He assumed that Christian population in Galilee was not composed of Jews who converted to Christianity. This is supported by the fact that trustworthy historical records, which mention Jewish conversion to Christianity in Byzantine Palestine, refer to individual cases rather than entire villages, unlike the records from the western part of the empire.<ref name="Leibner2009" /> Eastern Galilee retained a Jewish majority until at least the seventh century.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Leibner|first=Uzi|title=Settlement and Demography in Late Roman and Byzantine Eastern Galilee|url=https://www.academia.edu/7438063|language=en}}</ref>

===Early Muslim and Crusader periods===
After the [[Muslim conquest of the Levant]] in the 630s, the Galilee formed part of [[Jund al-Urdunn]] (the military district of Jordan), itself part of [[Bilad al-Sham]] (Islamic Syria). Its major towns were Tiberias the capital of the district, [[Qadas]], [[Beisan]], [[Acre, Israel|Acre]], [[Saffuriya]], and [[Kabul, Israel|Kabul]].<ref name=LeStrange>Le Strange, Guy. (1890) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ENANAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA493 Palestine Under the Moslems]'' pp. 30–32.</ref> During the early Islamic period, Galilee underwent a process of [[Arabization]] and [[Spread of Islam|Islamization]], similar to other areas in the region. Under [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] rule, Islamic rule was gradually consolidated in newly conquered territories, and some Muslims settled in the villages, establishing residency there.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Silver |first=M. M. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1260170710 |title=The history of Galilee, 47 BCE to 1260 CE : from Josephus and Jesus to the crusades |date=2021 |isbn=978-1-7936-4945-4 |location=Lanham, Maryland |pages=214 |oclc=1260170710}}</ref> Later, under [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abassid]] rule, geographer [[al-Ya'qubi]] (d. 891), who referred to the region as ''<nowiki/>'Jabal al-Jalil''', noted that its inhabitants were Arabs from the [[Amila]] tribe.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Strange, le |first1=G. |url=https://archive.org/details/palestineundermo00lestuoft |title=Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500 |publisher=Committee of the [[Palestine Exploration Fund]] |year=1890 |page=77 |author-link1=Guy Le Strange}}</ref> Michael Ehrlich suggests that during the Early Islamic period, the majority of people in the Western Galilee and Lower Galilee likely converted to Islam, while in the Eastern Galilee, the Islamization process continued for a more extended period, lasting until the [[Mamluk]] period.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Ehrlich |first=Michael |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1302180905 |title=The Islamization of the Holy Land, 634-1800 |publisher=Arc Humanities Press |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-64189-222-3 |location=Leeds, UK |pages=59–75 |oclc=1302180905 |quote=}}</ref> 

According to Moshe Gil, Jews in rural Galilean areas frequently succeeded in upholding community life during and for decades after the Umayyad period. He comes to the conclusion that several Galilean Jewish communities "retained their ancient character".<ref name=":1" />  

The [[Shia Islam|Shia]] [[Fatimid]]s conquered the region in the 10th century; a breakaway sect, venerating the Fatimid caliph [[Hakim (title)|al-Hakim]], formed the [[Druze]] religion, centered in [[Mount Lebanon]] and partially in the Galilee. During the [[Crusade]]s, Galilee was organized into the [[Principality of Galilee]], one of the most important Crusader seigneuries.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}} According to Moshe Gil, during the periods of [[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimid]] and [[Crusades|Crusader]] rule, the rural Jewish population of Galilee experienced a gradual decline and flight. He supports his argument by referring to 11th-century [[Cairo Geniza]] documents related to transactions in [[Ramla]] and other areas in central Palestine, where Jews claimed to have ancestral ties to places like [[Jish|Gush Halav]], [[Dalton, Israel|Dalton]], or [[Ammuqa|'Amuqa]], suggesting that Jewish flight from Galilee occurred during that time.<ref name=":1" />

=== Ayyubid and Mamluk periods ===
Sunni Muslims began to immigrate to [[Safed]] and its surroundings starting in the [[Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyubid]] period, and in particular during the [[Mamluk]] period. These immigrants included [[Sufism|Sufi preachers]] who were crucial in converting the locals to Islam in Safed's rural area. Jewish immigrants did, however, come to the area in waves, during the period of the destruction of Tyre and Acre in 1291 and particularly after the [[Expulsion of Jews from Spain|Jewish expulsion from Spain]] in 1492. These immigrants, who included scholars and other urban elites, turned the Jewish community from a rural community into an urban hub which exerted its influence well beyond the regional boundaries of Upper Galilee.<ref name=":5" />

===Ottoman era===
[[File:Safed view 02.JPG|right|thumb|200px|Safed]]
During Early Ottoman era, the Galilee was governed as the [[Safad Sanjak]], initially part of the larger administrative unit of [[Damascus Eyalet]] (1549–1660) and later as part of [[Sidon Eyalet]] (1660–1864). During the 18th century, the administrative division of Galilee was renamed to [[Acre Sanjak]], and the Eyalet itself became centered in Acre, factually becoming the Acre Eyalet between 1775 and 1841.

The Jewish population of Galilee increased significantly following [[Alhambra Decree|their expulsion from Spain]] and welcome from the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The community for a time made [[Safed]] an international center of cloth weaving and manufacturing, as well as a key site for Jewish learning.<ref name=jafi>{{cite web |title=The Jewish Agency for Israel |publisher=jafi.org.il |url= http://www.jafi.org.il/education/noar/sites/tsfat.htm |access-date=2015-05-18 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091222181345/http://www.jafi.org.il/education/noar/sites/tsfat.htm |archive-date= 2009-12-22 }}</ref> Today it remains one of Judaism's [[Four Holy Cities|four holy cities]] and a center for [[kabbalah]].

In the mid-17th century Galilee and Mount Lebanon became the scene of the [[Druze power struggle (1658–67)|Druze power struggle]], which came in parallel with much destruction in the region and decline of major cities.

In the mid-18th century, Galilee was caught up in a struggle between the [[Arab]] leader [[Zahir al-Umar]] and the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] authorities who were centred in [[Damascus]]. Zahir ruled Galilee for 25 years until Ottoman loyalist [[Jezzar Pasha]] conquered the region in 1775.

In 1831, the Galilee, a part of [[Ottoman Syria]], switched hands from Ottomans to [[Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt]] until 1840. During this period, aggressive social and politic policies were introduced, which led to a violent [[Syrian Peasant Revolt (1834–35)|1834 Arab revolt]]. In the process of this revolt the Jewish community of [[Safed]] was greatly reduced, in the event of [[Safed Plunder]] by the rebels. The Arab rebels were subsequently defeated by the Egyptian troops, though in 1838, the Druze of Galilee led another [[1838 Druze rebellion|uprising]]. In 1834 and [[Galilee earthquake of 1837|1837]], major earthquakes leveled most of the towns, resulting in great loss of life.

Following the 1864 Tanszimat reforms in the Ottoman Empire, the Galilee remained within [[Acre Sanjak]], but was transferred from [[Sidon Eyalet]] to the newly formed [[Syria Vilayet]] and shortly, from 1888, became administered from [[Beirut Vilayet]].

In 1866, Galilee's first hospital, [[the Nazareth Hospital]], was founded under the leadership of American-Armenian missionary Dr. [[Kaloost Vartan]], assisted by German missionary [[John Zeller]].

[[File:Beirut Vilayet, Ottoman Empire (1900).svg|thumb|The territory of the Ottoman [[Beirut Vilayet]], encompassing the Galilee]]

In the early 20th century, Galilee remained part of [[Acre Sanjak]] of Ottoman Syria. It was administered as the southernmost territory of the [[Beirut Vilayet]].

===British administration===
Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in [[World War I]], and the [[Armistice of Mudros]], it came under British rule, as part of the [[Occupied Enemy Territory Administration]]. Shortly after, in 1920, the region was included in the British Mandate territory, officially a part of Mandatory Palestine from 1923.

===Modern Israeli period===
After the [[1948 Arab–Israeli war]], nearly the whole of Galilee came under Israel's control. A large portion of the population fled or was forced to leave, leaving dozens of entire villages empty; however, a large [[Arab citizens of Israel|Israeli Arab]] community remained based in and near the cities of Nazareth, [[Acre, Israel|Acre]], [[Tamra]], [[Sakhnin]], and [[Shefa-'Amr]], due to some extent to a successful rapprochement with the Druze. The [[kibbutz]]im around the [[Sea of Galilee]] were sometimes shelled by the [[Syrian army]]'s artillery until Israel seized Western [[Golan Heights]] in the 1967 [[Six-Day War]].

During the 1970s and the early 1980s, the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO) [[Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon|launched multiple attacks]] on towns and villages of the Upper and Western Galilee from [[Lebanon]]. This came in parallel to the general destabilization of [[Southern Lebanon]], which became a scene of fierce sectarian fighting which deteriorated into the [[Lebanese Civil War]]. On the course of the war, Israel initiated [[Operation Litani]] (1979) and [[Operation Peace For Galilee]] (1982) with the stated objectives of destroying the PLO infrastructure in Lebanon, protecting the citizens of the Galilee and supporting allied Christian Lebanese militias. Israel took over much of southern Lebanon in support of Christian Lebanese militias until 1985, when it withdrew to a [[Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon|narrow security buffer zone]].

From 1985 to 2000, [[Hezbollah]], and earlier [[Amal Movement|Amal]], [[South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000)|engaged]] the [[South Lebanon Army]] supported by the [[Israel Defense Forces]], sometimes shelling [[Upper Galilee]] communities with [[Katyusha rocket launcher|Katyusha]] rockets. In May 2000, [[Prime Minister of Israel|Israeli prime minister]] [[Ehud Barak]] unilaterally withdrew IDF troops from southern Lebanon, maintaining a security force on the [[Blue Line (Lebanon)|Israeli side of the international border]] recognized by the [[United Nations]]. The move brought a collapse to the [[South Lebanon Army]] and takeover of Southern Lebanon by Hezbollah. However, despite Israeli withdrawal, clashes between Hezbollah and Israel continued along the border, and UN observers condemned both for their attacks.

The [[2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict]] was characterized by round-the-clock Katyusha rocket attacks (with a greatly extended range) by Hezbollah on the whole of Galilee, with long-range, ground-launched missiles hitting as far south as the [[Sharon Plain]], [[Jezreel Valley]], and [[Jordan Valley (Middle East)|Jordan Valley]] below the Sea of Galilee.