There was an autonomous Lebanon of one form of another since at least the 16th century, though.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Lebanon_Emirate
* It included large areas which are outside and to the North of present-day Lebanon, and
* It was still part of "Ottoman Syria": https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Syria , which was kind of a maximum version of what's described in my previous link