101 entries, 50 days.
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Wednesday, 12 July 2006
From the books
Hezbollah captures two Israeli soldiers at the border near Zar'it.
Shortly after 9 a.m. a Hezbollah unit ambushed two Israeli army Humvees patrolling the border fence near Zar'it, opposite Ayta al-Shaab, killing three soldiers and taking two wounded reservists, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, into Lebanon under cover of a rocket and mortar barrage. Five more Israeli soldiers died that day, four in a tank blown up during a pursuit across the border and one by mortar fire, bringing the army's dead to eight. Hezbollah announced that it would exchange the captives for prisoners held in Israel.
Sources differ: Time: 34 Days (Israeli reconstruction) puts the attack shortly after 9:00; Abirached quotes Hezbollah's statement giving 'around 9:05'; 34 Days dates Al-Manar's announcement to 10:15.
Reports at the time: The archive's first report of the capture comes at 10:40 (Al-Manar via AFP), 25 minutes after the time 34 Days gives for Al-Manar's announcement. The toll of eight soldiers appears only at 22:30, after reports of three (17:10) and four in a tank (18:05). Archive times are wire-feed publication times, not event times.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
Olmert holds the Lebanese state responsible and promises a 'thundering' response.
At a press conference beside Japan's prime minister, Ehud Olmert called the attack the act of a sovereign state and warned that Lebanon, with Hezbollah in its government, would pay. Abirached has chief of staff Dan Halutz vowing to 'set Lebanon back fifty years'.
Reports at the time: The archive reports Olmert calling the attack an 'act of war' from 13:30, consistent with the 12:50 press conference; it does not report Halutz's 'fifty years' remark.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
Siniora's government says it knew nothing of the operation.
After the afternoon cabinet, Information Minister Ghazi Aridi declared that the government had not known of the operation and was not responsible; March 14 leaders, among them former president Amine Gemayel, publicly attacked Hezbollah. Earlier Prime Minister Fouad Siniora had angrily asked Nasrallah's adviser what Hezbollah had done.
Reports at the time: The archive reports only that Lebanon, through Ghazi Aridi, asked for an urgent Security Council meeting on 'the Israeli aggression' (20:35); the government's disclaimer does not appear in it.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
Nasrallah: the soldiers will be returned only through an exchange.
Hassan Nasrallah told a Beirut press conference that the raid had been five months in preparation and that Israel's new leaders should expect surprises if they sought confrontation; the two soldiers were far away and would come back only through an indirect prisoner exchange.
Reports at the time: The archive carries the statement at 18:50, nearly two hours after the 5 p.m. given by 34 Days.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
Israel's cabinet votes for war; airport and Damascus road approved as targets.
'The Seven', Olmert and six senior ministers, approved strikes that night on Hezbollah's Fajr launchers hidden in homes and limited raids on Beirut airport's runways and the Beirut-Damascus highway, after the full cabinet voted unanimously for a forceful response. Harel and Issacharoff rely on Israeli participants and meeting records.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
First Israeli raids on the South and the coastal bridges.
Israel's 'Just Reward' offensive opened with roughly forty air strikes in the South; its bombing there and in Beirut caused serious damage to infrastructure.
Sources differ: Dieckhoff (pdf:192) dates the bombing of bridges and roads across the country from the next day, 13 July.
Reports at the time: The archive records two civilians killed near Ayta al-Shaab at 12:25 on 12 July, strikes on the Zahrani bridge from 17:45 and on Saida's Awali bridge at 22:30.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
A Gaza solidarity sit-in turns into the Samidoun relief campaign.
Samidoun ('those who hold fast') began as a mixed coalition of environmental, gay and lesbian, artistic, far-left and student groups that had planned a sit-in and cultural festival for Gaza on the very day the Israeli offensive began. Based at Zico House, it quickly turned to relief work and drew up to three hundred volunteers a day.
Reports at the time: The archive does not mention Samidoun.
Thursday, 13 July 2006
From the books
'Night of the Fajrs': rocket launchers hidden in homes are bombed; the Akash family is killed.
About twenty civilians died, Harel and Issacharoff report, among them a Shiite cleric, his wife and their eight children near Nabatieh, when Israeli aircraft destroyed 59 fixed medium-range rocket launchers hidden in southern homes, all within 34 minutes before dawn.
Reports at the time: The archive reports the killing of the cleric Adel Akkache, his wife and eight children at 06:40, matching the book.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
Beirut airport, twenty-one bridges and the Damascus road are bombed.
Israel bombed Beirut airport's runways, some twenty-one bridges and the Beirut–Damascus highway, cutting air traffic and the main roads to Syria. Visitors, many from the Gulf, were stuck; Western states evacuated their citizens, dual nationals included, by sea.
Sources differ: 34 Days puts the runway strike on the night of 12 July; Abirached and Dieckhoff date the strikes to 13 July.
Reports at the time: The archive's first report of the runways being hit is 06:30 on 13 July, after the Damour bridge (00:50); helicopters struck the airport's fuel tanks again in the evening.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
Israel imposes an air and sea blockade on Lebanon.
Israel closed Lebanon's air space and coast. The blockade stayed in force until 7 September, over three weeks past the ceasefire, and hindered the export of books and newspapers printed in Lebanon.
Sources differ: Start date: 13 July (Abirached; Dieckhoff 'from the next day'), 12 July (Mermier).
Reports at the time: The archive reports a 'general blockade' at 10:05 on 13 July, supporting Abirached's date.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
First Israeli raids on Beirut's southern suburb.
Israeli aircraft struck the southern suburb of Beirut, Hezbollah's stronghold, for the first time.
Sources differ: 34 Days puts the start of the bombing of Dahiyeh on the evening of 14 July (see 2006-07-14-haret-hreik).
Reports at the time: The archive backs Abirached: it cites Hezbollah reporting a strike on its southern-suburb stronghold at 08:30 on 13 July.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
Hezbollah rockets kill two civilians in Nahariya and Safed.
Hezbollah answered with Katyusha barrages on northern Israel, nearly 125 rockets that day, killing two civilians, in Nahariya and Safed, and wounding 69.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books range
The Jiyeh power station's fuel tanks are bombed; an oil slick spreads along the coast.
Some 150 km of coast, up to the Syrian border, was fouled after Israeli strikes on 13 and 15 July hit the fuel tanks of the Jiyeh power station, 25 km south of Beirut. Thousands of tonnes of fuel oil burned or ran into the sea; fishing was devastated, and the ongoing war delayed the clean-up.
Sources differ: Verdeil puts the spill at 10,000-15,000 tonnes; Bustos gives the full contents of the depot, 35,000 tonnes, some of which burned and some spilled. The two figures measure different things.
Reports at the time: No archive report for 13-15 July mentions Jiyeh; the fires and the slick first appear on 26 July, and the strike notes put Jiyeh under 16 July.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
Saudi Arabia condemns Hezbollah's 'adventurism'.
Riyadh on 13 July blamed the capture on Hezbollah's 'irresponsible adventurism' yet still endorsed 'legitimate resistance'. Hezbollah had not expected it: no Arab government had openly condemned such an action before.
Sources differ: Night of 12 July (34 Days) against 13 July (Ayad and Donati).
Reports at the time: The archive reports the Saudi statement only at 05:20 on 14 July, a day later than either book.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
The first displaced leave the South and the southern suburb; 'civil resistance' begins.
Displacement began on the second day of the Israeli campaign, first to relatives in districts thought safer, and grew to 900,000–1,000,000 people, nearly a quarter of the population. A Beirut blogger reported bare supermarket shelves, petrol queues and hours of waiting at the Syrian border. Relief initiatives labelled 'civil resistance' multiplied from 13 July.
The reports of that day, as they came in
Art and memory- testimony 34 Days quotes throughout a Beirut blog, 'Anecdotes from a Banana Republic' (signed EDB, called 'Emily'), as its main Lebanese civilian voice.
Friday, 14 July 2006
From the books
Thousands cross to Syria at Masnaa before the crossing is bombed.
Israeli planes bombed Masnaa that evening, after nearly 17,000 people, many on foot, had crossed there to Syria with the airport shut. The tourism minister predicted billions in losses.
Reports at the time: The archive gives more than 12,000 Gulf nationals leaving through Masnaa on Thursday 13 July, and reports a raid near Masnaa (three dead) only at 12:45 on 15 July.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
Hezbollah's 'security quarter' in Haret Hreik is flattened; Al-Manar keeps broadcasting.
Mona Harb stresses that Haret Hreik was chiefly a dense quarter of homes and shops; days of bombing ruined it. From the early evening jets levelled the towers holding Hezbollah's headquarters and the Al-Manar building, though the channel stayed on air from a secret site; tens of thousands had fled to northern Beirut after Israeli media announced the raid.
Sources differ: Date: early evening of 14 July (34 Days) against 15 July (Abirached). Buildings destroyed: more than 200 (Harb), 182 plus 192 damaged (Verdeil), at least 127 (Bustos).
Reports at the time: The archive reports Nasrallah's headquarters and residence building destroyed on Friday evening 14 July (19:50, 20:15) and the official news agency confirming the nine-storey building 'entirely destroyed' at 15:10 on 15 July, which may explain Abirached's date.
The reports of that day, as they came in
Art and memory- memorial Israeli bombing in summer 2006 hit UMAM's Hangar and documentation centre in Haret Hreik, where since 2001 Lokman Slim and Monika Borgmann had been archiving, among other things, the memory of the Lebanese war; part of the archive was destroyed.
From the books
Nasrallah announces 'open war' as a missile hits the Israeli warship Hanit off Beirut.
Four Israeli sailors died when an Iranian-made C-802 missile hit the missile boat Hanit off Beirut. Minutes later Nasrallah, by telephone on Al-Manar, told Beirut to look out to sea; hundreds went to the shore. An Arab journalist called it the turning point when Lebanese opinion swung to Hezbollah. Over a hundred rockets were fired at Israel that day.
Reports at the time: The archive first reports the four sailors as missing (03:55 on 15 July) and also an Egyptian civilian ship hit in the same attack, which the books do not mention.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
Chirac calls Israel's response disproportionate; Egypt and Jordan blame Hezbollah.
Meeting in Cairo on 14 July, Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdallah II condemned Israel's offensive and demanded it end at once, while criticising Hezbollah's 'adventurism'. Jacques Chirac's Bastille Day speech judged Israel's response disproportionate and ruled out a military solution.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
Israeli special forces take the northern part of Ghajar.
Israeli special units seized the northern, Lebanese part of the border village of Ghajar on 14 July, when Harel and Issacharoff date the first Israeli raids into Lebanon.
Reports at the time: Not found in the archive.
Saturday, 15 July 2006
From the books mid July
Villagers fleeing Marwahin are killed on the road to Tyre.
Harel and Issacharoff count 21 dead among people leaving the border village of Marwahin for Tyre when Israeli aircraft struck their vehicle; images of the bodies were broadcast worldwide.
Sources differ: Toll: 21 (34 Days); 18 civilians, mostly children (archive, 13:30); 20 including 15 children (archive strike note citing Reuters).
Reports at the time: The archive dates the attack to 15 July: first five civilians killed by helicopter fire on a minibus and a car (13:05), then eighteen civilians, mostly children, who were leaving on the Israeli army's orders (13:30). The 15 July strike note says 20 dead including 15 children; a 17 July note places the vehicles between Al-Bayyada and Shamaa.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
Baalbek is bombed for the first time; the town empties.
Some 70 per cent of Baalbek's people had fled within 48 hours, to nearby villages, to Christian Zahle, or on to Syria and Jordan. The bombing began at 5 a.m. on 15 July with the petrol stations around the town; at 5 p.m. six raids hit the centre and the Ras al-Ain district, and Al-Safir reported thirty dead that afternoon.
Reports at the time: The archive's reports for 15 July have Sheikh Mohammad Yazbeck's house in Baalbek bombed at 17:30 and, at 19:00, ten civilians wounded in strikes on the homes of two Hezbollah leaders; none mentions thirty dead.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
Siniora sets out terms to end the war; Arab ministers reach no decision.
In a speech on 15 July Siniora agreed for the first time to send the army south, as part of terms to end the war. The same day the UN's special delegation arrived in the region, and Arab League foreign ministers broke up without a decision after Saudi Arabia's Saud al-Faisal angrily attacked the Syrian minister.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
Some twenty Lebanese NGOs agree a joint stand; schools are opened to the displaced.
The Civilian Campaign for Relief and an advocacy collective both grew out of a first meeting of some twenty Lebanese NGOs outside Zico House on 15 July, where they agreed a common position. Getting no response from the government, associations forced open public schools to house the displaced, after which the government declared all of them open. The 'Gathering of NGOs for Relief in Lebanon' eventually counted 74 organisations.
Reports at the time: Not found in the archive.
From the books mid July
Western governments evacuate their citizens by sea.
France alone repatriated some 14,000 people, 12,000 of them French, as Western governments, mostly by sea, brought out tens of thousands of their nationals after Israel bombed Beirut airport and the Damascus road; many were dual-national emigrants on summer visits.
The reports of that day, as they came in
Monday, 17 July 2006
From the books
A family is killed in its home in Aitaroun.
Nine of one family, seven of them children, died in Aitaroun on 17 July when their house was blown up. Bread, fuel and water ran short for southern villagers who stayed despite Israeli leaflets ordering them out, and taxis charged a fortune for the trip to Beirut.
Sources differ: Toll: nine including seven children (34 Days); thirteen of the Awadah family including nine children (archive, 18 July 01:13); nine dead, four wounded (archive strike note, 17 July).
Reports at the time: Archive: thirteen dead of the Awadah family, nine of them children (posted 01:13 on 18 July).
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
Olmert sets Israel's conditions in the Knesset.
On 17 July Olmert told the Knesset Israel would stop once its captured soldiers were returned, a ceasefire agreed and Lebanese troops deployed in the South; the speech was later called 'Churchillian'. Harel and Issacharoff hold that Israel missed a chance to stop on 16-17 July.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
Arab and French papers read the war differently.
French media spoke of a 'disproportionate' Israeli response; Al-Hayat's 17 July headline told of a continuing 'Israeli massacre' and Hezbollah missiles on Haifa. That day Abdel Bari Atwan (Al-Quds al-Arabi) replied to Egyptian and Saudi claims that the resistance served Iran: Iran's agenda was worthier than their 'American-Zionist' one. Al-Jazeera moved part of its newsroom to Beirut.
Tuesday, 18 July 2006
From the books
Eleven Lebanese soldiers are killed at army barracks near Beirut.
Israeli raids on Lebanese army barracks killed eleven soldiers. Picard notes that throughout the war the army, confined to barracks and to civil-protection work, barely fired back, exposing how poorly armed fifteen years of Syrian-supervised rebuilding had left it.
Reports at the time: The archive names the Jamhour (and Kfarshima) barracks and gives eleven dead, four of them officers.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
240 dead in Lebanon; Israel turns down a UN ceasefire formula.
On the morning of 18 July UN envoys put to Tzipi Livni a formula accepted by Siniora and not rejected by Hezbollah, which might have placed the captured soldiers with the Lebanese government; the diplomats, quoted by Harel and Issacharoff, say Livni balked at its mention of the Shebaa Farms and Olmert refused it. Lebanon's dead numbered 240 that day, mostly civilians; in the war's second week the authorities put those who had fled at some half a million.
Reports at the time: Archive: '240 dead since the beginning of the assault' (01:55 on 18 July).
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
The 'war on trucks' begins in the Bekaa.
From 18 July Israeli aircraft set out to destroy every lorry carrying fuel or food in the Bekaa, and private cars on the roads from Baalbek to its villages and to Zahle were also targeted. People soon went hungry.
Wednesday, 19 July 2006
From the books
First ground clash at the Shaked outpost above Maroun al-Ras.
On 19 July Walid Jumblatt made any ceasefire conditional on the state deciding on war and peace. Avivim, a moshav under fire from Maroun al-Ras, had nearly emptied; a Maglan team heading for the nearby Shaked hill found a Hezbollah bunker, and two of its soldiers died in the fighting.
Reports at the time: The archive places much of the 19 July fighting at Aitaroun and has Hezbollah claiming six Israeli soldiers killed against Israel's two.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books range
UN agencies and international NGOs arrive; 'humanitarian corridors' disappoint.
Raymond describes local associations proving more effective than the international agencies, which were slowed by heavy UN procedures and later mostly admitted as much. When UN agencies and international NGOs arrived, between the war's second and third weeks, there were hopes of supplies despite the blockade and of protected 'humanitarian corridors', but protection came only in part.
Reports at the time: The archive traces the corridor idea to Chirac's call of 19 July. Israel agreed to a corridor on 21-22 July; on 23 July aid was still stuck in Syria; the first WFP convoy got to Tyre on 26 July.
The reports of that day, as they came in
Thursday, 20 July 2006
From the books
Battle of Maroun al-Ras.
Egoz lost a company commander and four men on 20 July in its first clash at Maroun al-Ras, sent in by daylight to back paratroopers who had entered at dawn; the battle lasted two more days.
Sources differ: Israeli dead: five (34 Days) against four among eight dead (Abirached).
Reports at the time: The archive reports four Israeli soldiers killed that evening; a fifth is identified only on 23 July, the day Hezbollah acknowledged the Israeli entry.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
Nasrallah tells Al-Jazeera Hezbollah is intact.
Interviewed on Al-Jazeera, Nasrallah denied taking instructions from Iran or Syria and said Israel had seized on the capture to start a war planned long before. Hezbollah, he claimed, had lost none of its leaders or military strength; victory meant the resistance surviving.
Sources differ: 20 July (Abirached) against 21 July (34 Days).
Reports at the time: The archive reports the interview at 23:10 on 20 July, so 34 Days' date probably reflects its broadcast or reporting the next day.
The reports of that day, as they came in
Monday, 24 July 2006
From the books
Condoleezza Rice in Beirut; Siniora shows her a seven-point plan.
On 24 July Condoleezza Rice, who called a ceasefire urgent, visited Beirut. Siniora showed her his seven-point plan: prisoners freed via the Red Cross; Israel behind the Blue Line; the Shebaa Farms under the UN; the army across the South, with no other weapons; a reinforced UNIFIL; the 1949 armistice restored; international aid. Her meeting with Speaker Nabih Berri was tense.
Reports at the time: The 'urgent ceasefire' remark appears in the archive before the visit, made en route (06:15); Rice landed in Beirut at about 13:20.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
The Bekaa's main dairy, Liban Lait, is bombed.
Liban Lait, the Bekaa's main dairy and, according to Verdeil, the source of 70 per cent of Lebanon's milk, was bombed by Israeli aircraft. The Nahas poultry farm on the Baalbek-Zahle road was destroyed the same day, and people made hungry by the blockade later looted what was left.
Reports at the time: An archive report of 18 July, six days before Daher's date, already describes fires breaking out 'again' at Liban Lait, so the plant may have been hit more than once.
The reports of that day, as they came in
Wednesday, 26 July 2006
From the books
Eight Golani soldiers die in the battle of Bint Jbeil.
At Bint Jbeil on 26 July a Golani battalion lost eight men in hours of close fighting around an olive grove, against Hezbollah fighters holding houses that almost encircled it. The deaths added to Israel's dismay, and a Northern Command general accused Halutz to his face of causing them.
Reports at the time: The archive first reports nine soldiers killed (11:40), then eight (20:25), on 26 July.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
The Rome conference ends without a ceasefire; Siniora presents his plan.
On 26 July an international conference on Lebanon in Rome, where Siniora presented his seven-point plan, backed a UN-mandated force and pledged urgent work towards a ceasefire without calling for an immediate one. Joseph Bahout saw in it Washington's abandonment of the Lebanese government.
Sources differ: Origin of the plan: shown to Rice in Beirut on 24 July (34 Days; it later calls it 'Siniora's seven-point plan of July 24', pdf:233) against presented in Rome on 26 July (Abirached).
The reports of that day, as they came in
Thursday, 27 July 2006
From the books
Israel calls up three reserve divisions.
On 27 July Israel's cabinet called up three reserve divisions, officers the next day and other ranks on 30 July, but made further force subject to new approval; some 62,000 reservists were mobilised in all. Harel and Issacharoff call it the cabinet's first real choice: major ground offensive or ceasefire.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
Lebanon's cabinet, Hezbollah ministers included, adopts Siniora's plan.
Five Shiite ministers backed the decision of Siniora's cabinet, that evening, to adopt the plan from his Rome speech, including the army's deployment in the South. To Harel and Issacharoff, Hezbollah's agreement showed how badly the Bint Jbeil fighting had hurt it.
Sources differ: Evening of 27 July (34 Days) against 28 July (Abirached).
Reports at the time: The archive supports 34 Days: the unanimous endorsement is reported at 23:20-23:25 on 27 July; AFP carried it the next morning (08:55 on 28 July), which may explain Abirached's date.
The reports of that day, as they came in
Sunday, 30 July 2006
From the books
Qana: a building full of sheltering families is destroyed.
Families sheltering in a house in Qana died early on Sunday 30 July when an Israeli strike brought it down; dozens of civilians were killed, many of them children, though tolls vary widely. Israel halted air raids for 48 hours, Berri declared Hezbollah's terms for an exchange void, and Siniora told Rice to stay away from Beirut. Agnès Levallois argues that the killings, a decade after the 1996 shelling of Qana, changed how the French and Arab press covered the war.
Sources differ: Toll: about thirty (Abirached; Ayad and Donati), 28 including 17 children (34 Days, final), 57 including 21 children (Arab TV via 34 Days), sixty (blogger via 34 Days); the archive's tolls run from 20 to 52 (with 30 children) and over 60.
Reports at the time: Contemporary tolls in the archive: 'at least twenty killed or wounded' (08:10), 35 (09:10), 32 including 14 children (09:50), 51 including 22 children (10:15), 'over 60' (Beawitness), and 52 civilians including 30 children on the day of national mourning (31 July). None gives the lower figure of 28 adopted by 34 Days. The 48-hour suspension appears at 00:22 on 31 July.
The reports of that day, as they came in
Art and memory- place Qana was struck twice: Israeli shelling of refugees at the UN headquarters there killed 106 on 18 April 1996, and the village was hit again in 2006. Lebanese regard the dead of both as martyrs.
Tuesday, 1 August 2006
From the books
Religious leaders meet at Bkerke and call for national unity.
A call for unity among all of Lebanon's communities, and for citizens to help the displaced, came from a 'spiritual summit' of the official representatives of the religious communities at Bkerke, seat of the Maronite patriarchate.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
Israel widens its ground operation toward the old 'security zone'.
Reservists entered southern Lebanon for the first time after 1 August, when Northern Command was cleared, as the 48-hour pause neared its end, to retake the old occupation zone; the Alexandroni brigade began advancing in the western sector that evening.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
Israeli commando raid on Baalbek's Dar al-Hikmeh hospital.
Israeli commandos landed by helicopter in Baalbek on the night of 1-2 August and took away five men, whom Israel called Hezbollah cadres. Aurélie Daher, citing the Lebanese press, writes that the five were freed three weeks later, shown to have no tie to the party; that some twenty civilians, seven of them children, were killed; and that the target, Sheikh Mohammad Yazbeck, was not at the Dar al-Hikmeh hospital where he was expected.
Sources differ: Date: 1 August (34 Days), night of 1-2 August (Daher), 2 August (Abirached). Identity of the five: Hezbollah fighters (Israeli army, archive), 'presumed members' (Abirached), civilians with no link (Daher).
Reports at the time: Archive tolls: eleven civilians killed and six kidnapped (police, 07:50), nineteen killed (Al-Jazeera), sixteen including seven children (15:35); Halutz claimed ten fighters killed and five captured.
The reports of that day, as they came in
Sunday, 6 August 2006
From the books
Lebanon rejects the Franco-American draft.
Lebanon turned down the Franco-American draft, wanting Siniora's seven-point plan reflected in it; Siniora feared that a text putting off the international force would leave Israeli troops in the South for good.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
A rocket kills twelve Israeli reservists at Kfar Giladi.
On 6 August one Katyusha killed twelve paratroop reservists by Kibbutz Kfar Giladi, Israel's worst loss of the war. Some of Olmert's advisers date his defeat to that day, when Israeli opinion turned.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
Thirty-five relief NGOs denounce the state's failures.
At a press conference on 6 August, thirty-five NGOs working with the displaced charged the official bodies with 'shortcomings and negligence', citing no long-term plan, no transparency, biased distribution of aid and failure to meet basic needs. The Higher Relief Council, revived days into the war, had changed its emergency number four times in one week; one of the aid workers said people had at times taken the NGOs for the government.
Monday, 7 August 2006
From the books
Arab foreign ministers meet in Beirut; Siniora weeps.
On 7 August Arab League foreign ministers met in Beirut, endorsed Siniora's seven-point plan and sent envoys to New York to seek changes to the draft; Syria's minister, trying to add support for Hezbollah, was isolated. Siniora, in tears, asked for an 'immediate and unconditional ceasefire'.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
The cabinet decides to send 15,000 soldiers to the South.
The Lebanese cabinet's vote of 7 August, backed by Hezbollah and Amal ministers, to deploy 15,000 troops in the South after an Israeli withdrawal broke the Franco-American deadlock over the draft; Nasrallah praised the army's role two days later.
Sources differ: 34 Days gives both 7 August (p. 182) and 5 August (p. 202); Abirached gives 7 August.
Reports at the time: The archive confirms 7 August (21:45).
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
Nearly 200 associations back a 'civil resistance' appeal; Mona Fayyad's article provokes an outcry.
A press release of 7 August reported that nearly two hundred civil-society organisations had signed the appeal 'Lebanon: an open country for civil resistance', meant to launch citizens' convoys to the South. That day in Al-Nahar, the academic Mona Fayyad asked what being Shiite meant now; her criticism of Hezbollah's hold on the community, made mid-war, caused an outcry.
Friday, 11 August 2006
From the books
Israel orders its final offensive hours before the UN vote.
With a UN-brokered ceasefire reported imminent, Northern Command sent its divisions to attack a little after 5 p.m. on Friday 11 August; fighting was fierce at Bint Jbeil and south-east of Tyre.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
The Security Council adopts resolution 1701.
The Security Council voted resolution 1701 unanimously, with all fifteen votes, at 7:52 p.m. on Friday 11 August in New York (2:52 a.m. Saturday local time). The text demanded a complete end to hostilities and the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from the South, where the Lebanese army and a UNIFIL enlarged to 15,000 troops were to deploy.
Sources differ: 11 August (New York date; Daher) against 12 August (Beirut date; Abirached). Both are right for their time zones.
Reports at the time: The archive files the vote under 12 August (02:55 Beirut time).
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books range
Cluster bombs are scattered over the South in the last days of the war.
About 70 per cent of the several hundred thousand cluster submunitions Israel dropped, most of them on the South, reportedly fell in the last three days of the war, when a halt to the fighting had already been agreed in principle. By 28 August unexploded bomblets had killed 14 people and wounded 47.
Sources differ: Number: 'several hundred thousand' (Verdeil) against 'millions' (de Clerck and Malsagne).
Reports at the time: The archive's first cluster-bomb deaths are dated 14-15 August; on 22 August it quotes a UN count of at least 170 sites hit.
The reports of that day, as they came in
Saturday, 12 August 2006
From the books
Battle of Wadi Saluki.
On Saturday 12 August, after the UN vote, 401st Brigade tanks crossed Wadi Saluki by day towards Randoria and Farun, exposed to Hezbollah missiles from the villages above. Eleven soldiers died at Saluki and Randoria and six more nearby in the last two days; on Sunday the troops halted to await the ceasefire. Reporters asked what the deaths had achieved; officers later found it hard to justify.
Reports at the time: The archive gives 24 Israeli soldiers killed across the South on Saturday 12 August, of whom 34 Days attributes eleven to Saluki-Randoria; a Haaretz item places the tanks' passage of the Saluki on the evening of 13 August.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
Lebanon accepts 1701; Nasrallah says Hezbollah will not stand in the way.
The Lebanese cabinet endorsed the resolution; on television Nasrallah said Hezbollah would not stand in the way of the government's decision, despite reservations. Israel stepped up its offensive. Citing security, the authorities stopped a first civilian convoy of about 120 people from heading south.
Reports at the time: The convoy is not in the archive.
The reports of that day, as they came in
Monday, 14 August 2006
From the books
The ceasefire takes effect at 08:00.
The cessation of hostilities took effect at 8 a.m.; at 7:55 a last Israeli rocket killed five people in a minibus near Baalbek. Israeli reservists soon headed home, Galilee heard no more sirens, and the guns, after almost 180,000 shells in a month, fell silent.
Reports at the time: The archive has strikes on Ain Bourday near Baalbek at 07:10 and, at 09:50, a report of seven people killed by Israeli strikes minutes before the truce; it does not mention the minibus.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
The displaced go home.
Almost a million displaced people headed home, mostly southwards, once the ceasefire held; the schools that had housed them were empty within 48 hours, and many returned to ruins. Unlike in 1982, de Clerck and Malsagne note, the exodus left no lasting mark on Beirut's neighbourhoods.
Sources differ: Speed: 'almost all home within 48 hours' (Raymond) against the HRC figures in 111101's July 2006 archive (Figures page), which still count 702,413 displaced on 15-16 August and 262,174 on 19 August.
Reports at the time: The archive also records Israeli leaflets on 14-15 August telling southerners not to return before the army's deployment.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
Nasrallah claims a 'strategic victory' and promises to rebuild homes.
A video of Nasrallah aired some twelve hours into the ceasefire proclaimed a 'strategic victory' and pledged compensation for destroyed homes. Homeowners got $10,000 to $12,000 to cover a year or more of alternative housing, and Hezbollah's teams had cleared the villages within months; the state, Verdeil notes, was far slower.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
Israel keeps the blockade after the ceasefire.
For some weeks after the ceasefire Israel kept up its sea and air blockade; with bridges and roads destroyed, many villages could not be reached at all.
The reports of that day, as they came in
From the books
The toll of the war: the books disagree.
The books' counts of the war's dead in Lebanon range from about 900 to nearly 1,200, with over 4,000 wounded and close to a million displaced; on the Israeli side, 116 to 170 dead, most of them soldiers. The figures differ by source, by what they count (all dead, civilians, combatants) and by cutoff date; each version is kept here with who gave it.
Sources differ: Lebanese dead: about 900 (de Clerck and Malsagne, Ministry of Health), 1,100 all categories (34 Days), 1,183 'civilians' (Mermier and Picard; Bustos, who adds 91-134 combatants), nearly 1,200 (Abirached; Quemener, apparently repeating Abirached word for word). Share of civilians: 'almost half' (34 Days, Israeli framing) against the civilian majority in all Lebanese-sourced figures. Israeli dead: 116 soldiers at 14 August (Makki), 150 (Abirached), 161 (34 Days), 162 (Mermier and Picard), 170 (Bustos). Displaced in Israel: 250,000 (Mermier and Picard) against 400,000 (Abirached).
Reports at the time: The archive records the Israeli army's own estimate of 530 Hezbollah fighters killed, 180 of them verified (14 August, 02:20), far above Hezbollah's admissions quoted in 34 Days.
The reports of that day, as they came in
Art and memory- book The two main books on the war used here, Harel and Issacharoff's 34 Days (2008) and Mermier and Picard's Liban, une guerre de 33 jours (2007), are not in 111101 References.
2006: day not established
mid July 2006
From the books
Between 180,000 and 200,000 people take refuge in Syria.
Between 180,000 and 200,000 people from Lebanon sought refuge in Syria, fewer than during the civil war, and were taken in far beyond family circles. Overall the war caused more than 200,000 departures from Lebanon, some of which may prove permanent.
Reports at the time: In 111101's July 2006 archive (Figures page), the HRC row 'Syria, Jordan, Cyprus and Gulf area' reads 200,000 (earlier), 231,000 (11 August), 180,000 (15 August) and 100,000 (16 August).
mid August 2006
From the books
The daily Al-Akhbar is launched.
The daily Al-Akhbar, which supported Hezbollah's positions, first appeared in mid-August. Franck Mermier saw it as the most visible sign of a new split among Lebanese intellectuals between the party's supporters and its opponents, a split the war had sharpened.
