61 entries on 57 dates · the books disagree on 61
February 1975
Thursday, 20 February 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Pierre Gemayel calls for a referendum on the armed Palestinian presence.
Kataeb leader Pierre Gemayel called for a referendum on whether Palestinian commandos should stay in Lebanon. He had already pressed the PLO to rein in its breakaway factions, and spoke of 'two governments and two armies'.
Sources differ: Traboulsi and Picard give no day.
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September 1975
Sunday, 14 September 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Massacre at Beit Millat in Akkar.
Most of Akkar's Christians left for the predominantly Christian regions after gunmen overran and looted Beit Millat, a Maronite village of Akkar, and shot many of its people.
Sources differ: The attackers were Saiqa and Syrian militias (Tegho Bou Nassif) or Sunnis of Akkar (Hanf). About ten dead, or 'a large part' of the village.
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October 1975
Monday, 20 October 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Battle of the Hotels begins.
The battle for Beirut's seafront hotels began. The Sunni Murabitun militia, allied with the National Movement and the PLO, fought from the Murr tower against the Kataeb in the Holiday Inn. Five months of close-quarters fighting wrecked central Beirut.
Sources differ: Traboulsi dates the launch of the battle to after Black Saturday (6 December).
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Tuesday, 21 October 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Kamal El Assad was reelected president of the Chamber by 47 votes against one. At the same time, Beirut was still under fire and the list of victims, whether kidnapped, executed, or shot by snipers or mortar shells, kept growing.
Other date in the books: Monday, 20 October 1975
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December 1975
Saturday, 20 December 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
PLA troops cross from Syria and besiege Zahleh.
Syrian guns in the Anti-Lebanon shelled Zahleh as 3,000 men of the PLA's Yarmouk Brigade, under Syrian officers, crossed the border and besieged it from 20 December: Syria was now intervening directly.
Sources differ: Tegho Bou Nassif dates the first Yarmouk infiltration near Zahleh to 30 October 1975.
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January 1976
Wednesday, 14 January 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Christian militias take the Dbayeh camp.
Militiamen of the National Liberal Party's Tigers and the Phalange took Dbayeh, a Palestinian camp north of Beirut whose refugees were mostly Christian, and expelled its people. Traboulsi and de Clerck and Malsagne treat it as the Christian militias' first drive to purge their territory of Palestinian and Muslim pockets.
Sources differ: Traboulsi gives 13 January.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 13 January 1976
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Tuesday, 20 January 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Damour massacre
Avenging the massacre of Karantina by Christian forces 2 days before, Palestinians and leftist Muslims attacked the Christian city of Damour, located about 20 kilometers south of Beirut, and murdered 350 civilians.
What the books addThe siege of Damour had begun on 9 January, before the fall of Karantina; the main massacre began on 20 January (Hanf, Ménargues, Fisk, de Clerck and Malsagne; Traboulsi gives 22 or 24 January). Jiyeh fell the same day. The attackers were mainly PLA, Saiqa and Fatah units, with Lebanese leftist parties. Estimates of the dead range from about 150 bodies found plus 200 missing (Fisk) and 300-584 (de Clerck and Malsagne) to about 900 (Ménargues); some 5,000 people fled by land and sea.
Art and memory- film Ziad Doueiri's The Insult (2017) recalls the Damour massacre.
- photograph The German magazine Stern published a photograph taken during the Damour massacre of January 1976.
- novel Farid and Michel Gharib's novel Damour, Man Anti (1978) tells of Damour up to the massacre.
Other dates in the books: Friday, 9 January 1976, Friday, 16 January 1976, Monday, 19 January 1976, Thursday, 22 January 1976, Saturday, 24 January 1976
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Wednesday, 21 January 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books 21-22 January
Army helicopters and boats evacuate Jiyeh but not Damour or Saadiyat.
Damour and Saadiyat, defended only by National Liberal Party militiamen, were not evacuated, while on 21 and 22 January army helicopters and boats took refugees from neighbouring Jiyeh to Jounieh.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 20 January 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Ta'labaya, near Zahleh, falls to the PLA.
Bishop Yuhanna Bassul of Zahleh's diary records the dawn fall of Ta'labaya, a Bekaa village, to a surprise assault by the Palestine Liberation Army and Yarmouk brigades, and the forced departure of its Christians.
Sources differ: Hanf (p. 210) dates a Palestinian seizure of Ta'labaya, with its people expelled, to December 1975; de Clerck and Malsagne (p. 154) record 35 killed there from that month.
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February 1976
Saturday, 14 February 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Frangieh announces the 'Constitutional Document'.
Laws would need both the president's and the premier's signatures, parliament would elect the premier, Christians and Muslims would share its seats equally, and the three top posts stayed with the same communities: so ran the Constitutional Document agreed in Damascus, which Frangieh issued as a new National Pact. The Kataeb approved it; Kamal Jumblatt and the National Movement opposed it for confirming the sectarian system.
Sources differ: Traboulsi's chronology dates the declaration to 7 February, the day of the Damascus trip; Hanf, de Clerck and Malsagne and Yara El Khoury give 14 February. De Clerck and Malsagne (p. 296) also write that the Christian camp accepted the Document 'from 21 January', before its publication.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 7 February 1976
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March 1976
Sunday, 21 March 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The ' Holiday Inn ' occupied by the Phalange Party fell in the hands of the Mourabitun and their allies.
According to some sources, the Phalange Party succeeded in evacuating some of its militiamen who took with them seven dead bodies, three of which were young girls. According to other sources, 65 militiamen were able to run away using an underground passage. The Holiday Inn had been subject to repeated assaults for the past ten months.
What the books addMourabitoun and Palestinian fighters, backed by Lebanese Arab Army artillery, took the 24-storey Holiday Inn after a fight waged floor by floor, day and night, from 20 to 22 March 1976 (Traboulsi dates the fall to 22 March). The Kataeb withdrew to the Fattal building near the port. The five-month Battle of the Hotels was over, and Beirut was split along the Green Line.
Art and memory- novel Rabee Jaber's novel Birds of the Holiday Inn (2011) is set around the hotel during the battles for downtown Beirut.
- photograph In November 2002 Haugbolle photographed the ruined Holiday Inn behind a huge banner of the Roman temple at Baalbek; the picture illustrates his discussion of nostalgia.
- novel George Shami's documentary novel What Is Left of the Fighting (Madha baqa min al-qital, 2003) followed young militiamen through the 1976 hotels battle.
Other dates in the books: Saturday, 20 March 1976, Monday, 22 March 1976
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January 1977
Friday, 21 January 1977
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Lebanese Front's seminar defines Lebanon as a 'plurality of civilisations'.
Lebanese Front leaders met in seminar at the Sayyidat al-Bir convent. They discussed partition, dismissed the independence-era institutions as outdated and called Lebanon a set of 'civilisational groups'. The Front also issued constitutional reform proposals.
Sources differ: Original entry 110 dates a three-day Lebanese 'Forces' seminar at Broumana to 23 January; it may be the same meeting.
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September 1977
Tuesday, 20 September 1977
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While bombardments and fights were taking place along the border since September 16, Radio Israel announced that Israel had sent a warning to Syria, indicating that no Syrian troop movement will be tolerated in Southern Lebanon.
What the books addRobert Fisk, who reported from the area, saw Israeli tanks on Lebanese soil near Ibl al-Saqi and Israeli shelling of Christian villages such as Rachaya al-Fukhar, where Palestinian guerrillas had dug in.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 21 September 1977
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March 1978
Tuesday, 14 March 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Israel invaded the South, after an operation executed by the Fedayin on March 11 at Tel Aviv.
25,000 men backed by the aviation, armored vehicles and artillery invaded, within 2 hours, a tenth of Lebanon and forced Palestinians to withdraw to the North of the Litani. A first estimate reported 700 deaths and 160,000 displaced persons. Refugees rushed to Beirut causing a serious social problem. Air raids bombarded Damour, Ouzaï, and Tyr.
What the books addHistorians date the start of Operation Litani to 14 March (de Clerck and Malsagne, Traboulsi, Quéméner; de Clerck's chronology gives 15 March) and its end to 21 March. Up to 25,000 Israeli soldiers and 120 tanks took part (de Clerck and Malsagne). Estimates of the dead range from about 300 Palestinian fighters (de Clerck and Malsagne) to about 2,000 people, mostly civilians (Fisk; de Clerck and Malsagne; Picard). Estimates of the displaced range from 150,000 (Hanf's refugee table) and more than 200,000 (de Clerck and Malsagne, Picard) to 285,000 (Lebanese government figure cited by Fisk). On 15 March Israeli aircraft bombed the Palestinian camps of Beirut, Tyre and Damour.
Art and memory- film Maroun Baghdadi's 1979 film We Are All For The Fatherland denounced what the Israeli invasion had done to South Lebanon.
- testimony Robert Fisk's eyewitness account of the invasion describes refugees on the coast road, the killing of women and children in two cars at Adloun by an Israeli landing party, the bombing of Aadchit and the shelling of Tyre.
- place The 'Amil association was founded after Israel's 1978 invasion by Kamel Mohanna, a paediatrician from South Lebanon, to bring emergency relief to war victims.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 15 March 1978
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Tuesday, 21 March 1978
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Israel announces a ceasefire in the south; Operation Litani ends.
Fisk puts the cost of Operation Litani at as many as 2,000 Lebanese and Palestinian dead and 20 Israelis. On 21 March, its last day, Israel announced a ceasefire, but its guns shelled Tyre from nine that morning; it held the south up to the Litani except the Tyre pocket.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 14 March 1978
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February 1979
Wednesday, 14 February 1979
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Revolution in Iran: Lebanon's Shi'is find a patron abroad.
Iran became an Islamic Republic after the Shah's overthrow; its new defence minister, Mustapha Chamran, had directed a technical school in south Lebanon founded by Sadr. With Musa al-Sadr's disappearance in Libya, the revolution quickly mobilised the Shi'is of Beirut and the south and gave Amal fresh strength.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne give 14 February 1979 for the birth of the Islamic Republic; Hanf and Traboulsi date the overthrow of the Shah to January 1979. These may be different stages of the revolution.
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August 1979
Tuesday, 14 August 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Tension reached its peak everywhere in Lebanon.
Heavy fights opposed the Lebanese Forces to the Lebanese army at the Beirut River's Corniche and in Oyoune el Simane.
Other date in the books: Monday, 18 June 1979
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January 1980
Monday, 21 January 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese army projected to deploy in South Lebanon while Israel was strongly opposed to this project.
What the books addDeploying the army, Sarkis insisted on his return from an Arab meeting at Ta'if in February 1980, should come before political reform (Traboulsi). Amal and the Phalange newspaper al-Amal also called for the army to be sent south (Traboulsi; Hanf).
Other date in the books: Thursday, 20 March 1980
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November 1980
Thursday, 20 November 1980
The Lebanese war · Added from the books about 20 November (range 20-28 November)
The Lebanese Forces storm the last Tiger stronghold in Ain el-Remmaneh (Ménargues's dating).
In Ménargues's account Ain el-Remmaneh, long a National Liberal district, sheltered those who refused Bashir Gemayel's authority, under Elias Hannouche ('Hannache'). About ten days after the two car bombs of 10 November, Bashir sent in his elite units. Hannouche and many of his men slipped across the demarcation line into Syrian-protected West Beirut, and the LF secured the district only after 48 hours of fighting. Afterwards a single LF insignia replaced the militia badges on every unit's uniform, on Bashir's orders.
Sources differ: Entries 403-405 end the Ain el-Remmaneh fighting in late October; de Clerck and Malsagne have LF control of East Beirut on 31 October; Hanf, about three months after 7 July.
Other date in the books: Friday, 28 November 1980
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December 1980
Sunday, 14 December 1980
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Bashir Gemayel warns his brother Amine's officer to stop building a separate militia.
Bashir Gemayel ran into Colonel Ibrahim Tannous, close to his brother Amine, at the Jeitawi hospital and warned him to stop building up Amine's militia. A month earlier Amine had defied the common Lebanese Forces badge by parading some 3,000 men in Phalange insignia at Jdeideh. Ménargues says Amine backed down from then on.
Sources differ: Hanf says Amine's Metn militia kept a measure of autonomy until 1988.
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Saturday, 20 December 1980
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Elias Hannouche's men seize the National Liberal office in Zahle; fighting with Syrian troops.
Rocket, mortar and heavy machine-gun fire swept central Zahle until about 11 p.m., when Syrian troops and Elias Hannouche's men withdrew. Under Syrian protection, Hannouche had seized the former National Liberal Party office early that morning with some forty men; local Lebanese Forces failed to dislodge them, Syrian soldiers intervened, and an LF fighter was killed.
Sources differ: Hanf gives November and December without a day.
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Sunday, 21 December 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The situation worsened in Zahleh under heavy bombardments. These confrontations between Zahliotes and soldiers from the Arab Strike Force continued until December 26 when a cease-fire eased the tension.
What the books addThe crisis began on 20 December when Elias Hannouche, a former Tiger commander backed by Syria, seized the old National Liberal office in Zahle. After an ambush inside the town killed five Syrian soldiers on 22 December, Syrian artillery opened fire on it (Ménargues; Hanf counts an officer and five soldiers). De Clerck and Malsagne date the bombardment to 21 December and call it the first round of the battle of Zahle. Most of the former Tigers then joined the Lebanese Forces, and Syrian troops stayed positioned around the town until the siege of spring 1981.
Other dates in the books: Saturday, 20 December 1980, Monday, 22 December 1980
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July 1981
Tuesday, 14 July 1981
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
A Syrian MiG is shot down over south Lebanon.
A Syrian MiG was lost near Kfarfalous when Syria's air force tried to intercept Israeli fighter-bombers over the south.
Sources differ: Original entry 489 records a Syrian MiG downed on 29 July; Ménargues's Kfarfalous loss is on 14 July, so they may be separate.
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Monday, 20 July 1981
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Iraq opens a channel to the Lebanese Forces.
Iraq, fighting Syria's ally Iran, provided aid after a pro-Iraqi Baathist lawyer, Gebran Majdalani, offered Bashir Gemayel direct ties with Baghdad. LF envoys met Tariq Aziz in Paris in mid-August and went to Baghdad in December.
Sources differ: Ménargues says the Lebanese Forces refused Iraqi money; Traboulsi says Iraq gave money as well as arms.
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Tuesday, 21 July 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While the bombardment continued in South Lebanon, the Security Council ordered a cease-fire; but the latter wasn't observed despite the presence of the US envoy Philip Habib in the region.
What the books addMénargues dates to 22 July Reagan's indefinite freeze on F-16 deliveries to Israel and a unanimous Security Council call for an immediate cease-fire, which Arafat accepted at once.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 22 July 1981
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April 1982
Wednesday, 21 April 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Six successive raids were reported within 90 minutes against Aramoun, Naameh and Damour, putting an end to a cease-fire that lasted 9 months. This new aggression claimed the lives of 80 victims.
What the books addFisk, on the coast road when it began, dates the Damour raid to 22 April: Israeli jets struck for over two hours, killing at least 19 Palestinians; Israel cited the death of a soldier on a mine in the south. For Fisk it previewed the invasion.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 22 April 1982
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June 1982
Monday, 14 June 1982
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Israeli forces cut the Beirut-Damascus road: the siege of West Beirut begins.
The siege of West Beirut, lasting until 21 August, began at dawn as the Israeli army, in a first, crossed the Beirut-Damascus road, trapping the Palestinian forces in the west with a Syrian brigade. By evening white sheets hung in Hamra and Amal fighters were seen dumping guns.
Sources differ: Hanf and Picard describe a siege of 'three months' or from mid-June without a day.
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Sunday, 20 June 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A Public Salvation Committee was constituted. It included: Bechjr Gemayel, Walid Joumblatt, Nabih Berry, Nasri Maalouf, Chafic Wazzan, and Fouad Boutros. Walid Joumblatt resigned from office a few days later.
What the books addMénargues and Fisk date the decision to form the committee to 14 June; Traboulsi has it convening on 20 June. Philip Habib attended its sessions of 22 and 23 June. Its agenda, Traboulsi notes, dealt with the PLO's withdrawal, not the Israeli occupation; Jumblatt quit the committee and the cabinet rather than 'deal the final blow to the Palestinians', and Berri stopped taking part.
Other dates in the books: Monday, 14 June 1982, Tuesday, 22 June 1982
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September 1982
Tuesday, 14 September 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Bechir Gemayel was killed by a bomb set in the headquarters of the Phalange Party in Achrafieh. The explosion killed 20 persons and wounded 60 others. The Lebanese President was gone and the hope that had pervaded the hearts of the Lebanese had vanished in seconds.
What the books addBashir Gemayel was killed at about 4 p.m. during his weekly visit to the Kataeb office in Ashrafieh, nine days before taking office. The bomb, about 35 kilos of explosive, had been placed two days earlier in the flat above by Habib Tanios Chartouni, a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, arrested on 16 September (Ménargues). Prime Minister Wazzan announced the death at midnight. Hanf counts 26 dead.
Art and memory- memorial Each 14 September Achrafieh marked Bashir Gemayel's death with a gathering at his monument in Place Sassine, under wall slogans such as 'Bashir lives in us'.
- testimony Robert Fisk notes a story among East Beirut Maronites that Bashir had left the ruins alive, climbed into an ambulance and would return.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 16 September 1982
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November 1982
Saturday, 20 November 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese Forces and the Progressive Socialist Party militiamen started a merciless war in the cazas of Aley and the Chouf.
What the books addOn 8 November 1982 PSP men attacked a Christian funeral in Kfar Nabrakh, a mixed Chouf village, killing eleven, in reaction to a Lebanese Forces checkpoint set up nearby. Some twenty houses were burned and nine villagers abducted; their bodies were found in a well on 23 November. De Clerck and Malsagne call it the Mountain War's first massacre.
Other dates in the books: Monday, 8 November 1982, Tuesday, 23 November 1982
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February 1983
Monday, 14 February 1983
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Army deployed 3800 soldiers and officers in the East between Nahr El Mott, Dora and Hazmieh, by virtue of a decree granting it extended powers.
What the books addEarly in 1983 the Eighth Brigade went into all of Beirut, the east included, under a plan to collect light arms in the city and clear heavy weapons and gunmen from Greater Beirut. The Lebanese Forces resisted, then on 1 March 1983 agreed to return East Beirut and the port's fifth basin to the state.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 1 March 1983
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May 1983
Saturday, 14 May 1983
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Council of Ministers approved unanimously the draft agreement with Israel which only needed to be signed.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne say the deputies were told of the text at a closed session on 15 May; Prime Minister Wazzan approved it and sent it to the president, and that month 70 of the 91 deputies still in office backed the government.
Other date in the books: Sunday, 15 May 1983
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June 1983
Tuesday, 14 June 1983
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While the bombardments took a dangerous turn in the mountain as they reached residential areas, the Chamber of Deputies approved the ratification of the Mai 17 agreement with 62 votes against 2 and 4 abstentions.
What the books addCounts differ: Hanf has 64 for, 2 against and 4 abstentions among 70 deputies present (40 of 50 Christian and 24 of 41 Muslim members in favour); Traboulsi has 65 for, 2 against and 4 abstentions; Fisk puts the vote on 15 June. Traboulsi says the government formally renounced the agreement on 5 March 1984, Amine Gemayel never having signed it.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 15 June 1983
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July 1983
Wednesday, 20 July 1983
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Israel announces it will pull back from the Chouf and Aley.
With Gemayel in Washington, Israel announced an early pull-back from the mountains above Beirut, dismaying Western ambassadors; Fisk explains that the army, and the multinational force with it, would be drawn into the Druze-Christian war.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne say Arens announced a withdrawal for 15 September, without dating the announcement.
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August 1983
Sunday, 21 August 1983
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The first signs of an imminent Israeli redeployment in the south of the Awali river multiplied. Lebanon urged the United States to intervene in order to delay this initiative.
What the books addIsrael announced the pullback on 20 July. On 16 August Moshe Arens told Gemayel in East Beirut that Israel would leave the mountains even if the fighting had not stopped, and he announced a withdrawal for 15 September. According to de Clerck and Malsagne, the United States tried without success to dissuade Israel.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 16 August 1983
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February 1984
Tuesday, 14 February 1984
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Amal and PSP met in Khaldeh, while only Souk El Gharb was still controlled by the Army in the mountain.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne give 14 February 1984 for the PSP's capture of the Chahhar district, part of a week-long uprising in Beirut and the mountain.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 15 February 1984
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January 1985
Monday, 14 January 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Israeli government decided to withdraw its army from South Lebanon progressively.
What the books addThe withdrawal was unilateral and staged. Antoine Lahad's militia, renamed the South Lebanon Army and backed by Israel, was to police the 'security zone' Israel kept. Historians date the departure from Sidon to 17 February (Traboulsi), and the fall-back to the security zone to May-June 1985 (de Clerck and Malsagne).
Other date in the books: Sunday, 17 February 1985
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March 1985
Thursday, 14 March 1985
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
British metallurgist Geoffrey Nash is kidnapped in West Beirut.
Three gunmen abducted Geoffrey Nash near his home in Makhoul Street. Nash, a British metallurgist, worked for the Lebanese industrial institute.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 8 January 1985
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May 1985
Monday, 20 May 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
After 20 hours of ferocious combats, Amal and the sixth brigade took control of the Palestinian camps.
What the books addAmal, with the army's mainly Shia Sixth Brigade, attacked Sabra, Chatila and Bourj al-Barajneh on 19 or 20 May. Bourj al-Barajneh held out under siege, Chatila's defenders kept a small area, and Sabra was overrun and razed. Hanf reports massacres when Sabra and Chatila fell, with estimates of 800 to 2,000 Palestinians killed by Shia militiamen in 1985.
Art and memory- novel Hanan al-Shaykh placed her 1992 novel Beirut Blues (Barid Bayrut) in the War of the Camps, during the summer of 1985.
Other dates in the books: Sunday, 19 May 1985, Wednesday, 22 May 1985
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November 1985
Wednesday, 20 November 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Violent combats opposed Amal and the PSP in West Beirut. Five days of hell followed for the residents of this region. 65 persons were killed and 250 were wounded.
What the books addHanf's 'Flag War': on 21 November alone, Shi'i and Druze fighters fought with tanks and artillery, leaving 65 dead and over 400 abducted. PSP militiamen had replaced the national flags Sixth Brigade soldiers put on public buildings for Independence Day with their party banner.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 21 November 1985
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January 1986
Tuesday, 14 January 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The eleventh Gemayel-Assad summit was a total failure.
What the books addFor Gemayel, says Traboulsi, the accord robbed the presidency of its arbitrating role; they last met on 13-14 January 1986.
Other date in the books: Monday, 13 January 1986
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October 1986
Tuesday, 21 October 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Hussein Husseini was reelected Speaker of the National Assembly. A seventh US national, Edward Tracy was kidnapped in West Beirut.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 9 September 1986
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January 1988
Wednesday, 20 January 1988
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The camps war, that lasted three years, seems to come close to an end with the deployment of the Syrian army and the Lebanese Army sixth brigade, replacing Amal around Chatila and Bourj-Brajneh.
What the books addHanf (p. 315) dates the lifting of Amal's blockade of the camps to 18 January 1988. The sources disagree on when the war of the camps ended: September 1987 (Picard's chronology), January 1988 (Picard, Hanf, de Clerck) or late 1988 (Hanf, p. 304).
Other dates in the books: Friday, 11 September 1987, Monday, 18 January 1988
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February 1989
Tuesday, 14 February 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
New confrontations between the army and the L.F. were taking place in Monteverde and next to the Justice Palace in Beirut, which created a general mobilization on both sides.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne date the first army-LF clash to 14 February: after 18 hours of fighting the army had the upper hand. Hanf dates the start to 10 February.
Other date in the books: Friday, 10 February 1989
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March 1990
Wednesday, 14 March 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Six weeks of inter-Christian fightings cost Lebanon over a third of its annual GNP and continue to paralyze the country's industrial heart.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 31 January 1990
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May 1990
Monday, 21 May 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
A Vatican-mediated ceasefire between the army and the Lebanese Forces takes effect.
A Vatican-mediated ceasefire took effect between Aoun's army and the Lebanese Forces. Mutual exhaustion held it; their hatred did not abate, and the Christian enclave stayed divided between them through the summer.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date the truce to 26 May. Accounts of when the war ended differ: March (Quéméner), May (Traboulsi, Fisk), July (Picard).
Other date in the books: Saturday, 26 May 1990
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August 1990
Tuesday, 21 August 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The second Lebanese Republic was born and the National Assembly approved with a majority of 48 deputies the constitutional reforms included in the Taef agreement. However, General Aoun continued to contest the legality of the Chamber.
What the books addSources disagree on the dates. Hanf dates the parliamentary vote (48 for, 1 against, 2 abstentions out of 51 deputies) to 26 August 1990 and its promulgation by President Hrawi to 21 September 1990. De Clerck and Malsagne, and Picard, give 21 September as the date the constitutional law was adopted. Haugbolle says parliament approved the Taif Agreement in August 1990. Traboulsi's postscript gives '21 September' but places it in 1991, probably by mistake. The vote started the Taif timetable: six months to disband the militias, and two years before Syrian troops withdrew to the Bekaa. Aoun called it a comedy, arguing that parliament had been dissolved.
Other dates in the books: Sunday, 26 August 1990, Friday, 21 September 1990
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September 1990
Friday, 21 September 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
President Hrawi promulgates the amended Constitution of the Second Republic.
Hrawi promulgated the revised Constitution, with the Taif reforms written in, and announced on air that it would found the Second Republic. Three ex-army commanders then urged Aoun's soldiers to accept General Lahoud's authority; some officers did.
Sources differ: Hanf calls 21 September the promulgation, after a vote on 26 August; de Clerck and Malsagne and Picard call it the adoption. Entry 1204 dates the vote to 21 August.
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October 1990
Sunday, 21 October 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The leader of the National Liberal Party, Dany Chamoun, his wife Ingrid and his two kids Tarek and Julian were savagely assassinated in there home in Baabda.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne count the murder of Dany Chamoun, his wife and two of their children as the last act of violence between Christian factions. The place is given as Baabda (Confluences) or 'his east Beirut home' (Fisk). Chamoun had backed Aoun, though critically, and was opposed to Syria's presence. Hanf notes that many blamed Syria, but judges that killing a whole family suggests a militia vendetta; Fisk likens it to the Phalangists' earlier killing of Tony Frangieh, his wife and baby. Samir Geagea was later tried for the murder (Picard).
Other date in the books: Saturday, 13 October 1990
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March 1991
Wednesday, 20 March 1991
After the war · From the books
The cabinet sets the end of April as the deadline for dissolving all militias.
Except for Hezbollah and the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army, militias had a month under a 20 March cabinet decision to surrender their arms to the army and wind up their intelligence services; 'the brotherly Syrian army' could enforce it.
Sources differ: Three dates: 20 March cabinet decision (Hanf, Picard 2002), 23 March vote in parliament (Picard 2016), 28 March ministerial declaration (Picard 2002). They may be successive steps of the same process.
Other dates in the books: Saturday, 23 March 1991, Thursday, 28 March 1991
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October 2004
Wednesday, 20 October 2004
After the war · From the books
Rafiq Hariri's resignation takes effect.
He then moved openly towards the anti-Syrian opposition.
Sources differ: Presented 3 October (Khayat), effective 20 October (Abirached).
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February 2005
Monday, 14 February 2005
Since 2005 · From the books
Former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri is assassinated in Beirut.
Shortly after midday a huge bomb struck Rafic Hariri's convoy outside the Saint-Georges hotel on the Beirut seafront, killing him and others travelling with him. Lebanese politics then divided into two blocs, which took their names from the rallies of 8 and 14 March.
Sources differ: Death toll differs: 22 dead (de Clerck & Malsagne, p. 461 and p. 577); Hariri 'and eight companions' (Abirached, p. 243, although the same chronology's 7 April entry speaks of Hariri 'and twenty-two other persons'); 18 dead (Quéméner). The counts may cover different groups (convoy only, or all victims, including those who died later).
Art and memory- book Sune Haugbolle's War and Memory in Lebanon begins with the Hariri bombing of 14 February 2005, which he takes as the end of postwar Lebanon and which brought the war back to many Lebanese minds.
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July 2006
Friday, 14 July 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · 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.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 15 July 2006
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Thursday, 20 July 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · 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
July 2006, as the books tell it · 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
Other date in the books: Friday, 21 July 2006
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August 2006
Monday, 14 August 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · 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
July 2006, as the books tell it · 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.
Since 2005 · From the books
The cessation of hostilities takes effect; the displaced return south.
The ceasefire came into force on 14 August. Hundreds of thousands of displaced people immediately headed back to the South, and Hassan Nasrallah claimed a 'divine' or 'strategic' victory and promised compensation for destroyed homes. Tolls for the 33 days differ widely between the books. The war's day-by-day record is in 111101's July 2006 archive (/facts/history/july2006/).
Sources differ: Lebanese dead: nearly 1,200 (Abirached; Quéméner, who repeats the same figures and probably depends on the same source), about 900 (de Clerck & Malsagne 2025), 1,400 (de Clerck & Malsagne in Confluences 2020). Israeli displaced: 400,000 (Abirached, Quéméner) against 250,000 (Mermier & Picard introduction). Cutoffs and definitions are not given.
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May 2007
Sunday, 20 May 2007
Since 2005 · From the books range
Battle of Nahr al-Bared between the army and Fatah al-Islam (20 May - 2 September).
Soldiers asleep at an army post by the camp entrance were killed when Fatah al-Islam fighters overran it; the army had been trying to detain members of the group over a Tripoli bank robbery. It then besieged and bombarded the camp for over three months, and 30,000 to 40,000 Palestinian refugees fled.
Sources differ: Soldiers killed: 179 (de Clerck & Malsagne) against 170 (Picard). Total dead: about 400 (Quéméner), consistent with 179 + 226 = 405.
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May 2008
Wednesday, 21 May 2008
Since 2005 · From the books
The Doha agreement ends the crisis.
Talks in Doha under Qatari and Arab League mediation ended the fighting. The parties undertook to elect a president at once, renounce political violence, lift the opposition sit-in, form a unity government with an opposition blocking third and redraw constituencies for 2009. Hezbollah's weapons went unmentioned.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne's narrative (pp. 462-463) has 21 May; their chronology (p. 578) has 25 May, combining the Doha accord with Sleiman's election.
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