It was fought between the allied Christian Lebanese Front militias, under the command of the Kataeb Party's President Bachir Gemayel, and the Syrian troops of the Arab Deterrent Force (ADF).

From 1977 onwards, Bachir began implementing the controversial "unification of the rifle" policy, using the LF to build a new power base for himself, distinct from that of the Phalange or any of the other traditional rightist parties.

On the other hand, the Lebanese Front united its leadership under Bachir Gemayel and started successive counter operations against Syrian brigades, which Syria responded with further savage bombings determined to seize control of Lebanon at all costs.

However, the LF attack on the pro-Syrian Marada Brigade militia of the Frangieh Clan that summer, which culminated in the infamous Ehden massacre, provoked another round of fighting in June–July.

In October 1978, the Foreign Ministers of Lebanon and those Arab League states contributing to the ADF – Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Sudan, Qatar and the UAE – met at the town of Beiteddine, in the Chouf District south-east of Beirut.