Israeli military tanks gather at the Israel-Lebanon border on September 28.

This week’s ground incursion into southern Lebanon is the latest chapter in a long history of Israel sending its troops into the territory of its northern neighbor.

Here is a timeline of Israel’s previous invasions of Lebanon, one of which lasted years:

1978Israel sent troops across the border for the first time after members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) entered Israel from Lebanon by sea and took control of a civilian bus, killing dozens of Israelis, according to the IDF.

In response, Israel occupied most of the southern part of the country, despite Lebanon’s claims that it had nothing to do with the bus attack. This eventually led to the creation of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), charged with securing Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon.

1982The longest Israeli invasion of Lebanon began in June 1982. Similar to this week’s statements, Israel said the incursion would be short and limited, with the mission of destroying the PLO.

But it resulted in a years-long occupation of southern Lebanon, leaving Israeli forces bogged down in a protracted and increasingly unpopular war.

Israeli forces initially captured almost half of Lebanese territory, including West Beirut. The operation resulted in more than 17,000 deaths, according to contemporary reports, and an Israeli investigation into a massacre in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila.

That investigation held Israel indirectly responsible for the massacre carried out by Israeli-affiliated right-wing Christian Lebanese fighters. Israeli forces then withdrew from West Beirut, but continued to occupy southern Lebanon until 2000. That conflict eventually also gave rise to Hezbollah.

2006In 2006, Hezbollah militants infiltrated Israel in a surprise attack, killing eight Israeli soldiers and kidnapping another two in an attempt to trigger a prisoner swap.

Israel retaliated with a large-scale air operation, followed by a large-scale ground offensive, which ended with a UN-brokered ceasefire.

The month-long war in Lebanon killed about 1,200 people, including hundreds of children, according to Human Rights Watch. Forty-nine Israeli civilians and 121 IDF soldiers were killed, according to the Israeli military.

A UN commission ruled that the IDF used “excessive, indiscriminate and disproportionate” force against civilians.