Editing Palestinian Liberation Front (section)

===Split 1982===
In 1982, the [[First Lebanon War|Israeli invasion of Lebanon]] led to the organisation's split into three factions. One of the main points of contention was the relationship with the PLO and [[Fatah]], with some members critically supporting Arafat, while others participated in the rebellion against him. All three factions claimed to represent the original organisation and retained the name PLF.<ref name="CDI">{{cite web |title=In the Spotlight: The Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) |date=14 November 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060413193301/http://www.cdi.org/terrorism/plf-pr.cfm |url=http://www.cdi.org/terrorism/plf-pr.cfm |archive-date=13 April 2006 |first=Grace |last=Chu |website=Center of Defense Information}}</ref>
* The group led by Tal'at Ya'akub, the PLF's secretary-general, remained neutral in the fighting between the various organisations and regrouped in [[Lebanon]]. Ya'akub died of a heart attack in November 1988 and his group disintegrated.
* A smaller group under PLF Central Committee member Abd al-Fatah Ghanim was more aggressively pro-Syrian and took control of the movement in Damascus. It supported Abu Musa's Fatah-backed insurgency and cooperated with it in attacking the PLO. The group later based its administration in Libya and ultimately merged with the Ya'akub faction.
* The pro-Iraq faction under Abu Abbas, who had been deputy secretary-general, had the largest following, estimated at around 400 activists. The group had its headquarters in Tunisia, but after the hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985, Abu Abbas was expelled by the Tunisian authorities and the group moved to Baghdad.

While each faction retained the original name and claimed to be the parent organisation, Abbas' group was responsible for the most high-profile terrorist attacks and it is only his faction that has been designated as terrorist.