Military action by a United States-led coalition of 32 states to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990, and claimed it as an Iraqi province. On January 18, 1991, two days after the American air campaign against Iraq began, Iraqi scud missiles were fired into
Israel. In total, Iraq launched approximately 40 scuds against Israel in the month that followed. The
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), unlike most Arab states, supported Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. As a result, the PLO lost diplomatic and financial support from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States. Kuwait also expelled most of the large
Palestinian community in Kuwait, many of whom had lived there for decades, accusing them of supporting the Iraqi invasion. See "
The Gulf War: Chronology," PBS, August 24, 2011; and "
Arafat's Costly Gulf War Choice," Al Jazeera English, Aug 22, 2009.