70 entries on 68 dates · the books disagree on 70
dates 1–60 of 68 next
December 1968
Saturday, 28 December 1968
The road to war · From the books
Israeli commandos destroy Lebanon's civil airliners at Beirut airport.
In retaliation for a Palestinian attack on an El Al airliner at Athens, Israeli commandos landed by helicopter at Beirut International Airport and destroyed thirteen or fourteen Lebanese passenger planes on the ground, most of them belonging to Middle East Airlines. The army failed to respond. Abroad the raid was widely condemned; at home it fed anger at the state and sympathy for the Palestinians.
Sources differ: Number of aircraft: 13 (Traboulsi, Hanf, Picard, Fisk) or 14 belonging to three Lebanese companies, 8 of them MEA (de Clerck & Malsagne). Traboulsi and Hanf speak of MEA planes only; Fisk and de Clerck & Malsagne of MEA and other companies. Picard says the Israeli air force blew up the planes; Hanf, Fisk and de Clerck & Malsagne describe a heliborne or landed commando. Picard places the Athens attack 'two months earlier'; Hanf and de Clerck & Malsagne date it 26 December 1968. Traboulsi and Hanf call it a hijacking, de Clerck & Malsagne and Fisk an attack.
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May 1973
Tuesday, 1 May 1973
The road to war · From the books
Palestinian guerrillas abduct three Lebanese soldiers.
The May 1973 crisis began when members of the Popular and Democratic Fronts abducted three Lebanese soldiers as hostages for the release of detained Palestinians.
Sources differ: Kidnappers: PFLP and DFLP (Hanf) or DFLP (de Clerck & Malsagne).
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June 1975
Saturday, 28 June 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Musa al-Sadr begins a hunger strike against the fighting.
Protesting at the fighting in Chiyah, Imam Musa al-Sadr went on hunger strike, pledging to fast until the violence stopped. Christian and Sunni clergy and Palestinians backed him. Traboulsi says he fasted at the Amiliya school until a national unity government was formed.
Sources differ: Traboulsi's wording places the strike about a month before 6 June; de Clerck and Malsagne and Hanf place it in late June, which fits the formation of the Karami cabinet at the end of June.
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July 1975
Tuesday, 1 July 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Lebanon had a new Government
The new Cabinet included the following 6 members Rachid Karameh - Prime Minister, Minster of Finance, National Defense, and Information. Camille Chamoun - Minister of Interior, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, and Hydraulic and Electric Resources. Adel Osseirane - Minster of Justice, Public Works, Economy and Trade Magid Arslane : Minster of Health, Agriculture, and Housing and Cooperatives. Philippe Takla - Minister of Foreign Affairs, National Education, and Plan. Ghassan Tueni - Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Tourism, and Industry and Oil. This government aimed, in a climate of daily fights and extreme tension, at dismantling barricades, taking away heavy armaments, suppressing defense positions, and reopening the roads.
What the books addHanf puts the cabinet's formation at the end of June and its announcement some two weeks before the 15 July confidence vote (83 for, none against, 16 Jumblatt supporters abstaining); Traboulsi's chronology gives 6 July. Neither the Kataeb nor Jumblatt was included. A cease-fire followed, which Traboulsi says was reached with Syrian mediators' help.
Other date in the books: Sunday, 6 July 1975
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Wednesday, 2 July 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Al-Qaa, a Christian village of the northern Bekaa, comes under attack.
Several villagers were killed and houses and fields burned when gunmen besieged al-Qaa, a Christian village by the Syrian border. De Clerck and Malsagne date the Christian exodus from the northern Bekaa from this attack. Amal fighters from neighbouring villages later shielded al-Qaa and other Christian villages.
Sources differ: Attackers: fedayeen (Tegho Bou Nassif), local Shiites (de Clerck and Malsagne), or Fatah, Saiqa, SSNP, Communists and a Shiite clan (Hanf). Dead: 5 or 7. Hanf places the attack before the Karami cabinet was formed (late June).
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August 1975
Monday, 18 August 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The National Movement publishes its reform programme.
The Lebanese National Movement published a transitional programme of democratic reform. Its demands included a constituent assembly, administrative decentralisation and an optional civil code of personal status, together with proportional representation in a single national constituency and an end to sectarian quotas.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne's chronology gives 12 August. Tufaro's 18 August comes from the date printed on the LNM document itself and is preferred here.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 12 August 1975
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September 1975
Monday, 1 September 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Egypt and Israel initial the Sinai II agreement.
Egypt and Israel initialled the Kissinger-brokered Sinai II accord. De Clerck and Malsagne judge it disastrous for Lebanon. For Hanf, it weakened Syria, which pressed the PLO for coordination, and deepened Palestinian fears of liquidation.
Sources differ: Initialled on 1 September (Hanf; de Clerck and Malsagne's chronology); de Clerck and Malsagne's narrative gives 4 September, the signature in Geneva.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 4 September 1975
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December 1975
Monday, 22 December 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Thousands of armed elements attempted to invade Zahleh
The army riposted and hundreds of shells, mortars and rockets, fell on the Town. Simultaneously, bloody fights were reported in Tripoli.
What the books addBishop Yuhanna Bassul's diary records 500 shells hitting Zahleh on the night of 22 December, with some 15,000 fedayeen gathered in the plain; at his appeal the army's Maghawir commando regiment came to help. Hanf writes that 3,000 men of the PLA's Yarmouk Brigade had entered from Syria on 20 December and besieged the town, which Syrian positions also shelled.
Art and memory- testimony Bishop Yuhanna Bassul of Zahleh kept a regular, detailed diary of the 1975-1976 war, issued by the Greek Catholic diocese in two volumes; most dated Zahleh events here come from it.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 20 December 1975
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January 1976
Sunday, 18 January 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Karantina massacre
Christian forces conquered Karantina, a slum district populated primarily by poor Kurds and Armenians but controlled by a PLO detachment. More than 1000 civilians were massacred.
What the books addDates differ between historians: 16 January (Ménargues), 18 January (de Clerck and Malsagne; consistent with Fisk), 19 January (Hanf), 20 or 22 January (Traboulsi). Maslakh, next door, fell at the same time. Most of the district's people were Shi'is, living alongside Palestinians, Kurds and Armenian Lebanese. Haugbolle estimates 150-500 dead, de Clerck and Malsagne 600-1,000; some 30,000 people were driven out to West Beirut and the southern suburbs.
Art and memory- film Les Enfants de la guerre, Jocelyne Saab's 1976 documentary, was shot in the aftermath of the Karantina massacre.
- place The B018 nightclub, put up at Karantina in 1998, was given a coffin-like look that Haugbolle reads as an allusion to the massacre there.
- book Jonathan Randal's reporting made the Karantina and Damour massacres known abroad.
Other dates in the books: Friday, 16 January 1976, Monday, 19 January 1976, Tuesday, 20 January 1976, Thursday, 22 January 1976
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Thursday, 22 January 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While the Palestine Liberation Army controlled the Akkar and the Bekaa with the exception of Zahleh, a cease-fire was concluded under the aegis of Syria.
What the books addTraboulsi, de Clerck and Malsagne, and Yara El Khoury date the Syrian-mediated cease-fire to 23 January. PLA and Saiqa units attacked Zgharta in the north but were repulsed, and Zahleh, besieged, held out.
Other date in the books: Friday, 23 January 1976
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March 1976
Thursday, 18 March 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Kamal Jumblatt's forces launch the 'Mountain War'.
Kamal Jumblatt, head of the National Movement, attacked on two fronts, Beirut and the Mountain, to crush the Christian camp militarily. That day's Druze attacks brought several massacres of Christians, some of them Jumblatt supporters.
Sources differ: Hanf places the main Joint Forces offensive in the Upper Metn in the last week of March.
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April 1976
Friday, 2 April 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A ten-day truce had bee decided, in order to elect a new President of the Republic after the expected departure of Sleiman Frangieh.
What the books addParliament used the truce to amend Article 73 of the constitution so that Frangieh's successor could be elected early: on 9 April according to Hanf, 10 April according to Yara El Khoury. The truce had coincided with the arrival on 31 March of the US envoy Dean Brown.
Other dates in the books: Wednesday, 31 March 1976, Friday, 9 April 1976, Saturday, 10 April 1976
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May 1976
Saturday, 1 May 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Despite the Damascus agreement, fights continued violently. The elections were postponed to May 8, the two candidates being Elias Sarkis and Raymond Eddeh.
What the books addAccounts differ. Hanf has Raymond Eddé stand 'on principle', protesting at outside manipulation, and so become the Left's candidate; Traboulsi and de Clerck and Malsagne have him boycott the vote, Traboulsi because it could not be free.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 8 May 1976
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June 1976
Tuesday, 1 June 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Syrian troops intervened in the Akkar region to raise the siege imposed on Kobeyate by officer Maamari from the 'Army of Arab Lebanon.' The Syrian contingent counted approximately 2000 men. 600 other soldiers entered the Bekaa region with over 200 tanks.
What the books addHistorians date the entry of Syrian regular troops to 1 June 1976 (Ménargues gives 9 June). President Assad announced it in the presence of the visiting Soviet Prime Minister Kosygin, citing appeals from the Akkar villages of Qubayat and Andaqit, besieged since January and attacked by the Lebanese Arab Army on 27 May. Columns moved towards Akkar and Tripoli, Zahleh and the Bekaa, and Sidon by way of Jezzine. Estimates of the force range from 6,000 men at the start (with 260 armoured vehicles, according to Ménargues) to 12,000-15,000 within weeks, with 250-300 tanks (de Clerck and Malsagne).
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 9 June 1976
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Friday, 18 June 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
President Gerald Ford ordered the US embassy in Beirut to evacuate urgently all US nationals in Lebanon who would like to return home.
What the books addBarely a tenth of American and British residents accepted the evacuation, Fisk writes. The British went by road, the PLO escorting them through West Beirut and a Libyan officer on to the Syrian lines; a day later a US landing craft took evacuees off from a PLO-guarded bathing club on the Corniche.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 16 June 1976
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September 1976
Wednesday, 22 September 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Bechir Gemayel announced the creation of an army to defend Lebanon.
What the books addMénargues dates the formal unification of the Christian militias under Bashir Gemayel's command to 31 August 1976; Yara El Khoury has it announced to President Frangieh in early September 1976. According to de Clerck and Malsagne, 'Lebanese Forces' was not the official name until 1981, but the unified command was officially founded on 25 March 1976.
Other dates in the books: Thursday, 25 March 1976, Tuesday, 31 August 1976
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January 1978
Sunday, 22 January 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese Front adopted a coexistence formula.
Leaders of the Lebanese Front, gathered at President Frangieh's home in Zghorta since the day before, inaugurated their seminar which main themes were the national understanding, the project of Palestinians settlement in Lebanon, and the internal organization of the Front itself. Their final press release made it clear that the Palestinian presence constituted an obstacle to the national understanding and that Lebanon rejected any kind of union.
Other date in the books: Friday, 21 January 1977
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March 1978
Wednesday, 22 March 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The first ' Blue Helmets ' arrived to the South.
What the books addFisk dates the arrival in Tyre of UNIFIL's first unit, Colonel Jean Germain Salvan's French paratroopers, to 23 March. That morning, at the nearby Hassan Borro barracks, Palestinians and Lebanese officers nearly opened fire over the handover.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 23 March 1978
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June 1978
Wednesday, 28 June 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A massacre of a unique atrocity was perpetrated in the North of the Bekaa region.
Forty persons from the Christian town of Kaa and its surroundings were kidnapped from their homes at night. 26 were executed at dawn, and their bodies were left in a mass grave. The Lebanese population and especially the Greek Catholic community, to which the victims belonged, were terrorized and distressed.
What the books addThe Qaa massacre is dated to the night of 27-28 June (de Clerck and Malsagne) or to 29 June (Hanf); Ras Baalbek and Jdeidet al-Fakiha were also raided. De Clerck and Malsagne blame Syrians in civilian clothes, carrying name lists and guided by local Christian members of the SSNP and the Communist Party, and see the killings as revenge for Ehden. Hanf counts 26 dead, de Clerck and Malsagne 32 to 36. The community's Supreme Council asked that a day of national mourning be held.
Other dates in the books: Tuesday, 27 June 1978, Thursday, 29 June 1978
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April 1979
Sunday, 22 April 1979
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Attack on Nahariya; Israeli officers set up a secret bombing front in Lebanon.
Senior Israeli officers answered a Palestinian raid on Nahariya, in northern Israel, by creating the 'Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners', manned by Lebanese of several communities. Up to 1983 its bombs killed hundreds of Lebanese and Palestinians, civilians and fighters alike. Prime Minister Begin was told of it only in June 1980.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne attribute the Nahariya attack to the PFLP.
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June 1979
Monday, 18 June 1979
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The army enters Ain al-Rummaneh and clashes with Bashir Gemayel's militiamen.
Unable to stop the fighting between their own militias, Pierre Gemayel and Camille Chamoun turned to President Sarkis, who sent in the army. In Ain al-Rummaneh the troops clashed bloodily with Bashir Gemayel's Kataeb fighters, the first serious confrontation between the army and a Lebanese militia, and relations between the army and the Lebanese Forces worsened thereafter.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne put the Ain al-Rummaneh turning point on 18 June (p. 275) but have the army called in on 14 June in another passage (p. 321). Original entry 272, of 16 June, expected the army to move in early the following week, which fits Monday 18 June.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 12 May 1979
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September 1979
Saturday, 22 September 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
President Elias Sarkis delivered an important speech, in which he emphasized the overriding role the army should play. Without it 'the State will be a body with no soul', he said. He insisted that the Arabs should stop to shilly-shally about Southern Lebanon.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 13 March 1979
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October 1980
Wednesday, 22 October 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Chafic Wazzan was asked to form a new government, while Israel launched an air strike againt Damour. The aerial Traffic at the Beirut International Airport was interrupted.
What the books addIn Ménargues's account the appointment came on 25 October, after Damascus had vetoed Takieddine Solh and put up three candidates including Hoss; by picking none of them Sarkis disregarded Syrian advice for the first time in his presidency.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 25 October 1980
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December 1980
Monday, 22 December 1980
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Five Syrian soldiers are killed in Zahle; Syrian artillery shells the town.
In Ménargues's account an ambush inside Zahleh killed five Syrian soldiers; when the town would not hand over the culprits after six hours of shelling, it was pounded non-stop for 48 hours, until Washington deplored Syria's conduct in public. Hanf gives an officer and five soldiers dead, shelling through Christmas week and a real ceasefire only weeks later.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date the Syrian bombardment to 21 December (stored entry 415), Ménargues to 22 December onwards. End of the shelling: 26 December (entry 415), after about 48 hours (Ménargues), or an effective ceasefire only weeks later (Hanf).
Other date in the books: Sunday, 21 December 1980
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April 1981
Thursday, 2 April 1981
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The battle of Zahleh begins.
From December 1980 the Syrian army held positions on the edge of Zahleh. Lebanese Forces fighters in the town repulsed its attack, and a siege of roughly 90 days followed, which Bashir Gemayel portrayed as a fight for 'the last Christian town' of the East.
Sources differ: Ménargues ends the siege on 30 June 1981 and Fisk by 1 July; de Clerck & Malsagne (p. 80) place the end of hostilities in May–June.
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Wednesday, 22 April 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The nightmare continued. The Lebanese authorities were completely powerless to stop the violence and the conflicting parties were unable to reach an agreement. The Beirut International Airport was closed to traffic and both dead and wounded victims continued to shed their blood on this agonizing Lebanese land.
What the books addAccording to Ménargues, Bashir Gemayel answered the collapse of a cease-fire on 22 April, which left 140 dead or wounded in Beirut within hours, by having the international airport shelled. On 11 May US ambassador John Gunther Dean urged the Lebanese Forces, via Alfred Madi, to let it reopen; that evening they dropped their objection.
Other date in the books: Monday, 11 May 1981
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October 1981
Thursday, 1 October 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The horror record was broken. A car bomb devastated half of a street in the Boustani neighborhood in Tarik Jdideh killing 83 and injuring 225. Another car scheduled to explode a little bit later in the same area was defused.
What the books addThis bomb ended a wave of attacks (17 September to 2 October 1981, about 300 dead) that de Clerck and Malsagne, after Ronen Bergman, attribute to the 'Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners', set up by Israeli officers; Bergman says its car bombs from October 1981 aimed to provoke the Palestinians into a reprisal that would justify an invasion.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 17 September 1981
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November 1981
Monday, 2 November 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Arab Strike Force launched a security operation in the West of the capital where Palestinian, Libyan and Iranian influence multiplied lately.
Other date in the books: Friday, 11 September 1981
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June 1982
Monday, 28 June 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The PLO accepted the idea of leaving Beirut to save the city, with, in return, an Israeli withdrawal from the surroundings of the capital.
What the books addFisk dates the PLO's statement that it would leave Beirut, made public by Saeb Salam, to 30 June; Hanf puts its agreement in principle only at the end of July. On 27 June an Israeli cabinet statement had first floated a negotiated exit: the Lebanese army would take over West Beirut and the disarmed fighters would leave by road for Syria (Ménargues).
Other dates in the books: Sunday, 27 June 1982, Wednesday, 30 June 1982
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August 1982
Sunday, 1 August 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The occupation of West Beirut turned into an annihilation war. Violent attacks killed 165 persons and wounded 400 others.
What the books addMénargues dates Israel's offensive to 2 August: 48 hours of non-stop artillery fire (280,000 shells and bombs, on Israel's own count), then ground attacks at the museum, the port and Bir Hassan, which were halted.
Other dates in the books: Monday, 2 August 1982, Wednesday, 4 August 1982
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Monday, 2 August 1982
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Israel launches a major offensive against West Beirut.
By Israel's own figure, the opening 48 hours of non-stop bombardment came to 280,000 shells and bombs. Palestinian fighters and their allies then held its columns at the Museum, the port and Bir Hassan.
Sources differ: Original event 585 is dated 1 August; Fisk describes the peak of the bombardment on 4 August.
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September 1982
Wednesday, 1 September 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The last Palestinian fighters left Lebanon. In 12 days, 10,876 Fedayin and 2,700 Syrian soldiers had left the Lebanese territory.
What the books addCounts of those evacuated between 21 August and 1 September differ: 14,398 Palestinians and Syrians, including 664 women and children of PLO cadres (de Clerck and Malsagne); 14,938 Palestinians by 30 August (Ménargues); about 15,000 by sea plus 6,500 Syrian and PLA soldiers by land (Hanf). On 1 September President Reagan announced his peace plan.
Art and memory- book Abou Zaki shows how Lebanon's Palestinians, among the war's chief losers, are blamed as its chief culprits. In 2008 the Palestinian Authority formally apologised to the Lebanese state for wrongs done, notably in 1975-1982.
Other dates in the books: Saturday, 21 August 1982, Monday, 30 August 1982
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
President-elect Bashir Gemayel meets Menachem Begin in northern Israel.
Facing Begin, with Sharon and Shamir beside him, Bashir asked for six to nine months to consolidate his power before any early peace treaty; Traboulsi says he left humiliated. The meeting leaked within days; he denied it.
Sources differ: Place: Nahariya (Ménargues) or Natania (Traboulsi); leak reported on 2 September (Traboulsi) or 3 September (Ménargues).
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Saturday, 18 September 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Hundreds of women, elderly persons, men and children were massacred in the Palestinian camps of Sabra and Chatila. This ignominious act shook the world. Some militias were accused of committing the crime. Nevertheless, as usual in Lebanon, the identity of the murderers remained unknown while the victims were all innocent persons. .
What the books addThe massacre lasted from the evening of Thursday 16 September to the morning of Saturday 18 September (Traboulsi gives 15-17, Hanf 17-18). The killers were militiamen of the Lebanese Forces' security service under Elie Hobeika, together with men of Saad Haddad's South Lebanon militia. The Israeli army, which controlled the area after entering West Beirut on 15 September, let them into the camps, lit the camps with flares at night and watched from command posts nearby. Israel's Kahan Commission, published on 7 February 1983, held the Phalangists directly responsible and found Defence Minister Ariel Sharon personally responsible, recommending his removal; it also attributed indirect responsibility to other Israeli political and military leaders. Estimates of the dead range from about 460-800 to 3,500; Bayan Nuwayhed al-Hout's survey found victims of twelve nationalities, about half Palestinian and more than a quarter Lebanese.
Art and memory- film Ari Folman's autobiographical animated documentary Waltz with Bashir (2008) showed how central Israeli soldiers were to the massacre.
- film Massaker (2005), by Lokman Slim and Monika Borgmann, records former Lebanese Forces militiamen describing their part in the massacre.
- testimony Jean Genet entered Chatila on 19 September 1982; de Clerck and Malsagne count his 'Four Hours in Shatila' (1983) among the war's most harrowing accounts.
- artwork Drawing on Genet's text, Iraqi painter Dia al-Azzawi made nine prints in 1983; his polyptych Sabra and Shatila Massacre (1982-83) is now at Tate Modern.
- novel Sorj Chalandon, Libération's man in Lebanon, was among the first into the camps; his 2013 novel Le Quatrième Mur depicts the massacre.
- book Bayan Nuwayhed al-Hout's Sabra and Shatila, September 1982 (2004) surveys the victims and records witnesses' descriptions of the killers.
- novel In activism and in fiction, notably Bab al-Shams (Gate of the Sun), Elias Khoury sought to make Palestinians' war experience part of Lebanese memory.
- novel In Rawi Hage's De Niro's Game (2006), George returns from the Sabra and Shatila massacre, in which he took part, and describes the killings.
Other dates in the books: Wednesday, 15 September 1982, Thursday, 16 September 1982, Friday, 17 September 1982
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December 1982
March 1983
Tuesday, 1 March 1983
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Lebanese Forces agree to place East Beirut and the port's fifth basin under state control.
Given guarantees by President Gemayel, the Lebanese Forces returned control of East Beirut to the state, along with the port's fifth basin, which had brought in about a fifth of their income.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne give 1 March 1983 here but 'spring 1983' elsewhere (p. 351); original entry 654 dates the state's recovery of the fifth basin to 7 March.
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August 1983
Sunday, 28 August 1983
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Beirut witnessed four days of madness and bombardments during which the Army lost control of the situation in a matter of one day, in favor of the militiamen.
What the books addTwo US Marines were killed and 14 wounded on 29 August, as Amal, Murabitun and PSP fighters, having seized the south-western suburbs, stormed West Beirut and Syrian-held batteries shelled the east. Using tanks, the army had regained the city centre by 31 August, though not the suburbs.
Other dates in the books: Monday, 29 August 1983, Wednesday, 31 August 1983
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January 1984
Monday, 2 January 1984
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The year started like the previous one ended : everyone was talking about a new security plan for the mountain and the Southern suburbs of Beirut. Nevertheless, the fights continued intermittently in these regions between the Army and the Lebanese Forces on one side and the Progressive Socialist Party and Amal on the other.
What the books addOn 29 January the Druze resumed attacking the army at Souk al-Gharb, after Shi'i militia sniping at the army and French troops from mid-January, Hanf's next escalation.
Other date in the books: Sunday, 29 January 1984
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February 1984
Thursday, 2 February 1984
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The schools closed their doors in the Eastern sector of the capital due to the blind shelling of Beirut and its suburbs.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 1 February 1984
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April 1985
Monday, 1 April 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The region of Saida was heavily bombarded. Artillery duels opposed the Lebanese Forces on the one hand, to local antigovernment militias and army units that don't follow the commandment of Yarzeh on the other.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 24 April 1985
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May 1985
Wednesday, 22 May 1985
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Amal takes Sabra camp.
Part of Sabra was destroyed and made a car park after Amal took the camp in the first round of the 'War of the Camps'.
Sources differ: Hanf says Sabra was destroyed and overrun 'by early June'; the original entry of 20 May speaks of all the camps taken.
Other date in the books: Monday, 20 May 1985
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Michel Seurat and Jean-Paul Kauffmann are kidnapped on the airport road.
The French researcher Michel Seurat and the journalist Jean-Paul Kauffmann were abducted on the airport road. Seurat died in captivity.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date Seurat's death to 1986.
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Tuesday, 28 May 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
As part of the harassment to which were subject foreign nationals, the director of the American University Hospital, David Jacobsen, was kidnapped while he was leaving the Medical Gate.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 22 May 1985
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December 1985
Saturday, 28 December 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese Forces, the PSP and Amal signed an agreement in Damascus, putting an end to the Lebanese war.
The year ended with some hope for the Lebanese, following the signature of the tripartite agreement, while the economy was agonizing and hundreds of Lebanese and foreign hostages were living in horrifying daily conditions.
What the books addSigned in Damascus by Elie Hobeika (Lebanese Forces), Nabih Berri (Amal) and Walid Jumblatt (PSP) under Syrian sponsorship. It provided for Christian-Muslim parity during a transition towards the end of political sectarianism, a stronger prime minister and cabinet, a senate, and 'strategic complementarity' with Syria. It did not end the war: President Gemayel refused it and, in January 1986, Samir Geagea's forces drove Hobeika out of East Beirut. Its provisions were largely taken up in the Taif Agreement of 1989.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 12 March 1985
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September 1986
Thursday, 18 September 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While a terrorist vague submerged France, the French military attaché, Christian Goutierre was assassinated in Mar Takla.
What the books addHe was shot in the head 25 m from the ambassador's office, a day after the rue de Rennes attack in Paris (7 dead, 55 wounded).
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 17 September 1986
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January 1987
Wednesday, 28 January 1987
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Assad and Gemayel met for 55 minutes in Kuwait during a pan-Islamic conference to put an end to a disagreement that lasted one year. Besides, Washington decided to prohibit US nationals from travelling to Lebanon.
What the books addTraboulsi dates the break between the two presidents to their meeting of 13-14 January 1986, when Gemayel rejected the Syrian-sponsored Tripartite Accord.
Other date in the books: Monday, 13 January 1986
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February 1987
Sunday, 22 February 1987
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Syrian army returns to West Beirut.
Much of the population welcomed the Syrian troops who entered West Beirut at Muslim leaders' invitation after a week of fighting between Amal and the PSP and its leftist allies. Militiamen were banned from carrying arms in the streets; Amal fell back to the southern suburbs, which the Syrians left alone. Gemayel protested.
Sources differ: Date: 22 February (Hanf; de Clerck and Malsagne, twice), 20 February (Picard), 28 February (Traboulsi). 22 February has the most support and is also the date given in original entry 988. Size of force: two brigades (Hanf), 12,000 soldiers plus Special Forces (de Clerck and Malsagne), 8,000 (Quéméner).
Other dates in the books: Friday, 20 February 1987, Saturday, 28 February 1987
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March 1987
Saturday, 28 March 1987
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
An anti-Syrian assault in Ramlet El Baida constituted the most serious incident since the entry of Syrian troops in West Beirut on February 22nd.
What the books addHanf writes that in June 1987 Walid Jumblatt was forced to surrender to Syria several men of the PSP intelligence branch, his security chief among them, who had joined in hit-and-run attacks on Syrian forces in West Beirut.
Other date in the books: Sunday, 22 February 1987
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May 1987
Monday, 18 May 1987
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Marxist thinker Mahdi Amel (Hassan Hamdan) is assassinated.
Hassan Hamdan, known as Mahdi Amel, a philosopher and leading theorist of the Lebanese Communist Party, was assassinated. Hanf says his Shi'i background made him especially hated, branded an 'atheist traitor'.
Sources differ: Responsibility: Hanf names Amal supporters; de Clerck and Malsagne place the killing in the context of the Hezbollah-Communist break without naming the killers.
Art and memory- book Hanf's annotated list of Arabic writing on the war includes Mahdi Amel's 1979 work on the causes of the civil war, Theory in Political Practice, and describes its author as a Shi'i philosophy professor and Communist Party member.
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January 1988
Monday, 18 January 1988
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Amal lifts its blockade of the Palestinian camps.
Amal ended the blockade of the Palestinian camps it had kept up since 1985. Hanf gives two reasons: the West Bank intifada, which made Syria and Amal look like Israel's accomplices if they kept squeezing the camps, and Amal's coming fight with Hezbollah.
Sources differ: Existing entry 1053 (20 January) describes Syrian and Sixth Brigade deployment around Chatila and Bourj al-Barajneh. Picard's chronology dates an agreement ending the war of the camps to 11 September 1987; Hanf (p. 304) also says the war ended only in late 1988.
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September 1988
Sunday, 18 September 1988
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Mikhael Daher, deputy from the North, 'was designated' candidate at the presidential elections in accordance with a Syrian-American agreement. This designation did not please everyone.
What the books addHanf (pp. 569-570): the joint US-Syrian proposal came out of three days of talks in Damascus from 15 September, after which Murphy warned the Maronite Patriarch that the alternative to Daher was chaos.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 15 September 1988
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Thursday, 22 September 1988
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Three Amal leaders, among them its southern commander Daoud Daoud, are assassinated.
Daoud Daoud, Amal's commander in the south, was murdered with two other Amal officials; Amal blamed Hezbollah and later cast its war as a response to these killings. In 1988 Daoud had also proclaimed a Christian priest of Tyre, tortured to death, a martyr of Amal. That month the two militias clashed in the Bekaa, the south and Beirut's southern suburbs.
Sources differ: Hanf gives only September 1988; de Clerck and the Confluences article (same authors) give 22 September.
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May 1989
Tuesday, 2 May 1989
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Aoun recasts his 'war of liberation' as a diplomatic campaign; Syrian shelling starts again.
Within a week Syrian shelling of the enclave was back at full intensity; Hanf says Syria and its allies kept the Arab League ceasefire only a few days. Aoun, having accepted it, recast his war as a diplomatic struggle.
Sources differ: Hanf gives 2 May both for Aoun's statement and for the renewed shelling; the shelling date may be a misprint.
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September 1989
Friday, 22 September 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A cease-fire was officially observed while general Aoun answered favorably to the Arab peace proposals.
What the books addThe dates differ: Picard ends the 'war of liberation' on 22 September; de Clerck and Malsagne say the ceasefire took effect on 23 September. Hanf dates the troika's new plan to 13 September (de Clerck and Malsagne say 17 September). Aoun accepted it, urging the deputies to insist on a timetable for Syrian withdrawal.
Other dates in the books: Wednesday, 13 September 1989, Saturday, 23 September 1989
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October 1989
Sunday, 1 October 1989
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Lebanese deputies begin their Taif conclave, opened by Saudi Arabia's foreign minister.
Former speaker Husseini chaired the session, which Prince Saud al-Faisal opened by insisting that it must not fail. Hanf puts attendance at 62 deputies, split evenly between Christians and Muslims, some living in Lebanon and others in exile in France, Switzerland or Iraq; de Clerck and Malsagne give 63.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date the meeting to 30 September with 63 deputies; Hanf dates the opening to 1 October with 62. The original entry 1155 has 30 September.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 30 September 1989
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November 1989
Tuesday, 28 November 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Several reports mentionned important Syrian movements towards the Eastern fronts. In response to General Aoun's call, thousands of Lebanese went to Baabda and watched the Palace day and night.
What the books addThe crowds began gathering at Baabda as soon as Hrawi gave Aoun his ultimatum, according to Hanf the day after the election. The sit-in lasted weeks. Fisk saw the Syrian army move hundreds of tanks and guns into the mountains above Beirut in early December. Emile Lahoud was named army commander on 28 November (de Clerck and Malsagne).
Other date in the books: Saturday, 25 November 1989
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June 1990
April 1996
Thursday, 18 April 1996
After the war · From the books
Israeli shells kill 106 refugees in the UN compound at Qana.
A UN inquiry judged an error unlikely, largely on the strength of a soldier's video of an Israeli drone above the Fijian battalion's base, where some 560 villagers had taken shelter. The shelling lasted seventeen minutes, until 2.25 p.m.; more than half of the dead were children.
Sources differ: 106 dead (Fisk, de Clerck, Haugbolle), 107 (Picard), 102 (Quéméner calendar). Number of refugees: 560 (Fisk). Quéméner alone says UN soldiers were killed.
Art and memory- memorial Qana Day, 18 April, became a state day of national remembrance in 1997, with gatherings, exhibitions and a permanent museum display at Qana; the victims share a marble-covered grave beside the former UN base.
- book Robert Fisk's chapter 'The Massacre' in Pity the Nation is built on survivors' testimony and the UN soldier's video of the drone.
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October 2004
Friday, 1 October 2004
After the war · From the books
Marwan Hamadeh survives a car bomb.
The car bomb that wounded Marwan Hamadeh, a Jumblatt adviser who had resigned from the cabinet, opened a series of attacks on opponents of Syria (Picard); the Special Tribunal for Lebanon later took on his case as legally linked to Hariri's. Kofi Annan's report on Resolution 1559 came out that day.
Sources differ: Picard (2016) places the attack 'a few days' after 3 September; the others give 1 October.
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December 2004
Wednesday, 1 December 2004
After the war · From the books
Thousands demonstrate in Beirut for the Syrian presence and against 1559.
Sources differ: The book chronology extracted to JSON reads this as 'December' only; the PDF shows 1 December.
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