The 'Battle of Jezzine' was part of the advance of Major General J. D. Lavarack’s Australian 7^th Division through Lebanon toward Beirut during the five-week-long Allied 'Exporter' campaign against the Vichy French forces in Syria and Lebanon (13 June 1941).

Jezzine lies about halfway between Beirut and the Lebanese border with the British mandated territory of Palestine and Trans-Jordan.

Australian troops of the 25^th Brigade (less the 2/33^rd Battalion) attacked Jezzine on 13 June 1941, following the capture of Merdjayoun, which the Allies had captured, albeit temporarily, on 11 June, allowing Lavarack, the commander of the Australian 7^th Division, to switch the 25^th Brigade’s focus northward in the direction of Jezzine, leaving a small force to hold Merdjayoun, which was later subjected to a heavy counterattack.

Farther to the west, on the coast on the Mediterranean Sea, the Australian 21^st Brigade attacked Sidon between 13 and 15 June, as part of the drive on Damour. The day after Sidon fell, the Australians cut the road between Sidon and Jezzine.