33 entries on 33 dates · the books disagree on 33
December 1972
Friday, 15 December 1972
The road to war · From the books
Ghandour locks out and dismisses its workers.
Talks failed; the company locked out and sacked its whole workforce. Traboulsi says it reopened after a week, taking back all but 100 it saw as ringleaders; Tufaro describes a six-month lockout that fresh protests ended, with the demands unmet.
Sources differ: Length of the lockout: one week (Traboulsi) against a declared six months (Tufaro).
\_this day in full \_on this day
April 1975
Tuesday, 15 April 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A cease-fire was reached
After more than three days of anguish, with 120 deaths and many injuries, two suspects were handed over to the Justice. Beirut and its surroundings have been the theater of violent clashes between the Phalange Party and Palestinian militias. Also, Zghortiotes and Tripolitans fought in Tripoli. A cease-fire was declared at night and all parties reached an agreement, the execution of which was entrusted to the Internal Security Forces.
What the books addAfter several days of fighting (Hanf; four, says Traboulsi), Pierre Gemayel gave up to the police two militiamen implicated in the Ain al-Rummaneh shooting. Early Syrian mediation failed to stop this round, which de Clerck and Malsagne end with a cease-fire on 16 May 1975; no book confirms a truce on 15 April.
Other date in the books: Friday, 16 May 1975
\_this day in full \_on this day
October 1975
Thursday, 30 October 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Yarmouk units enter the Bekaa near Zahleh.
Yarmouk units, a Palestinian force trained by the Syrian army, entered the Bekaa plain near Zahleh by way of Bar Elias. The bishop's diary shows that the Palestinian fighters in the district had until then been Fatah and its Lebanese allies.
Sources differ: Hanf dates the Yarmouk Brigade's crossing to 20 December.
\_this day in full \_on this day
December 1975
Monday, 15 December 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
After a week of dreadful combats, the first phases of the 18th cease-fire agreement were executed with the evacuation of the towers and big hotels in the capital.
What the books addHanf has the Murabitun, discreetly backed by the Palestinians, going on the offensive against the Kataeb downtown and around the hotels on 8 December and seizing the Phoenicia and St Georges. Traboulsi places an army attempt to retake the two hotels on 9 December.
Other dates in the books: Monday, 8 December 1975, Tuesday, 9 December 1975
\_this day in full \_on this day
January 1976
Friday, 30 January 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Lieutenant Ahmed Khatib left the Hasbaya barracks and announced the creation, in the Bekaa, of the Army of Arab Lebanon.
What the books addHistorians date Lieutenant Ahmad al-Khatib's breakaway to 21 January (de Clerck and Malsagne, in the Bekaa) or 22 January (Julie Tegho Bou Nassif, from the diary of the Greek Catholic bishop of Zahleh); Hanf places the mutiny in the south. About 300-400 Muslim soldiers followed him at first. The entry of 30 January may record a later step.
Other dates in the books: Wednesday, 21 January 1976, Thursday, 22 January 1976
\_this day in full \_on this day
March 1976
Monday, 15 March 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Lieutenant Ahmed Khatib, chief of the ' Army of Arab Lebanon ', rejoined Ahdab's reformist movement. Barracks fell in the hands of protesters. 68 deputies signed a petition claiming the departure of Sleiman Frangieh who refused to leave his post, despite all the pressures against him.
What the books addThe deputies' petition demanding Frangieh's resignation is dated 11 March in Traboulsi's chronology and 13 March by de Clerck and Malsagne; Picard and Traboulsi's chronology count 68 signatures out of 99, Traboulsi's narrative 69. On 15 March Syrian-controlled PLA and Saiqa units halted a march on the Baabda palace by the Lebanese Arab Army and al-Ahdab's followers. Within days Khatib's force grew to a few thousand men and held most of the army's heavy weapons.
Other dates in the books: Thursday, 11 March 1976, Saturday, 13 March 1976
\_this day in full \_on this day
April 1976
Thursday, 15 April 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Despite the extension of the truce, several fronts were set ablaze, including those in Beirut.
A new agreement, called the Damascus Agreement, was likely to be applied in the next 48 hours. Syrian and Resistance leaders had signed it. The agreement stipulated ending hostilities, reactivating the 'Supreme Military Committee', refusing the partition of Lebanon, rejecting American arrangements and plans in Lebanon, continuing the Syrian initiative and refusing the internationalization or the 'Arabization' of the Lebanese crisis. Also, an agreement had been reached stipulating the withdrawal of Syrian troops that entered the Bekaa region on April 10, back to the Masnaa borderline.
What the books addTraboulsi's chronology puts the Syrian-PLO accord to restore order in Beirut on 11 April. Around 9 April Syrian army tanks entered the Bekaa at Anjar, Judaydat Yabus and Bayadir al-Adas (Traboulsi), some forty in all according to Yara El Khoury, as Saiqa fighters set about ending the siege of Zahleh.
Other dates in the books: Friday, 9 April 1976, Sunday, 11 April 1976
\_this day in full \_on this day
June 1976
Tuesday, 15 June 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese Front approved the application of the solutions of the sub-summit, concerning the dispatch, to Lebanon, of a peace force including Libyan, Algerian, Syrian, Sudanese, Saudi, and Palestinian contingents.
What the books addPicard (2016) dates to 9 June 1976 the Arab League Council resolution, taken in Cairo, that created an Arab peace force. Hanf has some 2,000 Sudanese arriving first, then Libyans; Picard (2002) says Tripoli sent 500 men in June.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 9 June 1976
\_this day in full \_on this day
November 1976
Monday, 15 November 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Phase 2 of the peace plan started.
The Arab Strike Force including mainly Syrians started to advance on various axes leading to the heart of the capital, as well as the Chouf, the Kesrouan, and Jbeil. 8,000 infantrymen and 250 armored vehicles converged towards the districts of Beirut and the front line.
What the books addHanf puts the entry of about 6,000 Syrian soldiers, in the peace force's green helmets, into East and West Beirut on 14 November. Fisk's report in The Times of 16 November dated their occupation of the whole city to the previous morning, with 6,000 men and hundreds of tanks; the last firing, near the port, ended on 16 November, Fisk recounts.
Other dates in the books: Sunday, 14 November 1976, Tuesday, 16 November 1976
\_this day in full \_on this day
March 1978
Wednesday, 15 March 1978
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Israeli aircraft bomb the Palestinian camps of Beirut, Tyre and Damour.
Operation Litani brought Israeli air raids on the Palestinian camps of Beirut and Tyre and on Damour, which had taken in survivors of Tal al-Za'tar. In the south, Israeli forces killed at least 200 Fatah fighters.
Sources differ: Entry 176 (14 March) already mentions air raids on Damour, Ouzai and Tyre.
\_this day in full \_on this day
May 1979
Tuesday, 15 May 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Phalange Party and the LNP merged under the sign of cooperation with the State.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne date the start of the fighting between Kataeb and National Liberal Party militias to 12 May 1979, at Furn el-Chebbak; clashes recurred in various places until July 1980.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 12 May 1979
\_this day in full \_on this day
June 1981
Tuesday, 30 June 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
95 militiamen from the Lebanese Forces were evacuated from Zahleh with their individual weapons after having surrendered their heavy weapons to the Arab Strike Force and to the Internal Security Forces. An Internal Security Forces unit was positioned in the neighborhoods of Zahleh.
What the books addMénargues has some 600 Internal Security Forces gendarmes entering Zahleh on 30 June, ending the siege, and the 95 fighters from outside the town leaving by bus over a mountain road behind a Syrian colonel's car, past Syrian troops posted along it; Hanf says they left under Saudi escort. Siege toll: 200 dead and over 2,000 wounded (Ménargues), over 200 and 2,000 (de Clerck and Malsagne), 300 and 3,000 by the Phalange's count (Fisk).
Art and memory- place Of 38 civilians in a warehouse basement by Zahleh's disused railway, one child survived when tank fire toppled the building; after the siege Fisk also found the town's dead under wooden crosses in a makeshift graveyard.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 1 July 1981
\_this day in full \_on this day
December 1981
Tuesday, 15 December 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A bomb attack destroyed the Iraqi embassy. 20 persons were killed including the ambassador and 100 were wounded.
What the books addMénargues dates the bombing to 16 December. The six-storey embassy at Ramlet al-Baida was destroyed by an explosives-laden car driven by Shiite suicide attackers; a group nobody knew claimed it, and the ambassador's body took four days to find. It followed heavy fighting in West Beirut on 4 December between Amal and pro-Iraqi Baathists, and a Lebanese Forces visit to Baghdad.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 16 December 1981
\_this day in full \_on this day
September 1982
Wednesday, 15 September 1982
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Israeli army enters West Beirut.
Israel said it was preventing a 'bloodbath' when its troops moved into West Beirut at 5 a.m., hours after Bashir Gemayel's death was announced, in breach of commitments given through Philip Habib. Leftist militias resisted in places. The Israeli army surrounded the Sabra and Chatila camps without entering them.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 14 September 1982
\_this day in full \_on this day
May 1983
Sunday, 15 May 1983
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Deputies are briefed on the agreement with Israel in closed session.
Behind closed doors the deputies went through the text. Foreign Minister Elie Salem argued that Israeli observers for a limited time were better than continued occupation, and Saeb Salam did much to win them over.
Sources differ: Hanf and Fisk date the parliamentary vote to 14 or 15 June (entry 676); in de Clerck and Malsagne's chronology parliament approved the agreement on 17 May.
\_this day in full \_on this day
November 1983
Wednesday, 30 November 1983
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
President Gemayel met with the American President at the White House.
What the books addHanf writes that in Washington on 1 December the Americans pressed Gemayel to come to terms with the Druze and Shi'is and ruled out any change to the 17 May agreement.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 1 December 1983
\_this day in full \_on this day
January 1984
Sunday, 15 January 1984
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Ships from the sixth US fleet were positioned off Beirut. They were retaliating to the bombing of Marines' headquarters in the capital.
Other date in the books: Monday, 9 January 1984
\_this day in full \_on this day
December 1984
Saturday, 15 December 1984
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Army's deployment plan between Madfoun and the Awali river as well as in the Iqlim El Kharroub was finally executed. The entire population went on strike in South Lebanon to protest against the military operation of December 13.
What the books addHanf dates the army's advance into the Sidon region to 9 January 1985, as Israel began pulling back. Some of the 15 December deployment may have been north of the Awali, which he does not detail. The southern strike is not in the books.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 9 January 1985
\_this day in full \_on this day
March 1985
Friday, 15 March 1985
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
British businessman Brian Levick is kidnapped in West Beirut.
On rue Australie five gunmen took Brian Levick, the Coral oil company's British general manager, out of his car; Terry Anderson was seized twelve and a half hours later.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 8 January 1985
\_this day in full \_on this day
August 1985
Friday, 30 August 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese Forces ended their military presence in Zahleh and closed their offices in the town.
What the books addHanf dates the Lebanese Forces' withdrawal to 31 August, after Shia militias had shelled Zahleh from 11 August and Christian notables mediated; Syrian troops entered on 7 September.
Other date in the books: Sunday, 11 August 1985
\_this day in full \_on this day
September 1985
Monday, 30 September 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Three diplomats from the Soviet embassy and the chancellery's doctor were kidnapped in West Beirut. One of them was killed later, while the three others were released on October 30. Twelve Western nationals remained held hostages by Islamist organizations.
What the books addFisk dates it 1 October 1985, de Clerck and Malsagne September. Arkady Katkov was killed. Fisk thinks Sunni fundamentalists wanted Moscow to make Syria halt its Tripoli offensive against Tawheed. The others' release is credited probably to the KGB and Syria by de Clerck and Malsagne, to Syrian mediation by Hanf.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 1 October 1985
\_this day in full \_on this day
January 1986
Wednesday, 15 January 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
In eight hours of violent fights, 100 persons were killed, and the chief of staff of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, evinced Elie Hobeika sending him into exile.
What the books addHistorians date Geagea's takeover to 15 January 1986 (de Clerck and Malsagne; Picard's chronology dates Gemayel's rejection of the accord to the same day). Traboulsi's narrative gives 12 March 1986 instead. De Clerck and Malsagne put the dead at about 800, far above the 100 given here. Hobeika was flown out by army helicopter after an army mediation backed by the patriarch, was briefly exiled in France, then settled in Zahle under Syrian protection.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 12 March 1986
\_this day in full \_on this day
April 1988
Saturday, 30 April 1988
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The body of Bishop Albert Khoreiche was discovered in the forest of Chnaiir, provoking consternation in every milieu. He had disappeared eight days earlier in mysterious conditions.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne (p. 420) identify the victim as head of the Maronite religious court and nephew of the former Patriarch Khoreiche. His body was discovered in a Ghazir forest on 1 May 1988, and the killing was attributed to the Lebanese Forces.
Other date in the books: Sunday, 1 May 1988
\_this day in full \_on this day
January 1989
Monday, 30 January 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Following negotiations conducted in Damascus, the pro-Syrian Amal movement and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah sign an agreement putting an end to their armed conflict that cost the life of 400 persons in 10 months.
What the books addThe dates differ: Hanf says Amal and Hezbollah suspended their war on 25 January, and also writes that the Syrian-Iranian ceasefire took until the spring. De Clerck and Malsagne date the ceasefire to February 1989. Picard names Syria and Iran as sponsors. Death tolls depend on the source and the period: some sources put civilian deaths at about 2,000 for 1988-1990 (de Clerck and Malsagne); an al-Nahar-based count gives 635 dead across 147 incidents between 1985 and 1991; Georges Corm estimated 2,000 dead for 1988-1989.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 25 January 1989
\_this day in full \_on this day
August 1989
Tuesday, 15 August 1989
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Pope John Paul II publicly condemns Syria as an occupying power in Lebanon.
Pope John Paul II dropped the Vatican's neutrality: urging international intervention and Syria's withdrawal, he named Syria, with Israel, an occupying power. His widely reported statement came on 15 August 1989, the Assumption, two days after Souk el-Gharb.
Other date in the books: Sunday, 13 August 1989
\_this day in full \_on this day
February 1990
Thursday, 15 February 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Despite Mgr Sfeir's pathetic call, a blaze of fire hits the 'Christian country'. The army takes control of Ain el Remmaneh.
What the books addHanf: after the army took Ain al-Rummaneh on 16 February 1990, having attacked the eastern suburbs on the 11th, the Lebanese Forces fell back to Ashrafieh through West Beirut. A Reuters reporter with the troops said it was 'like an earthquake had hit it'.
Other dates in the books: Sunday, 11 February 1990, Friday, 16 February 1990
\_this day in full \_on this day
July 1990
Sunday, 15 July 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Lakhdar Ibrahimi met, for the first time since the Taef agreement, with General Michel Aoun, after having conferred with Presidents Hraoui, Husseini and Hoss. Later on, he met with the chief of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea.
What the books addAoun answered Ibrahimi's offer of a national unity cabinet including himself and Geagea with conditions of his own: a stronger president, no appointed deputies, and the militias dissolved and elections held before the Taif amendments were ratified. Hanf counts at least four meetings between the two in summer 1990; Ibrahimi confessed he could not tell what Aoun wanted.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 11 July 1990
\_this day in full \_on this day
October 1990
Monday, 15 October 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
President Mitterand affirms the he will not hand over General Aoun, arguing that 'It is a question of honor'.
What the books addMitterrand called asylum for Aoun 'a matter of honour' and France granted it, but Beirut refused to let him go; he stayed in the French embassy until taken to France on 29 August 1991.
Other dates in the books: Saturday, 13 October 1990, Thursday, 29 August 1991
\_this day in full \_on this day
July 2000
Sunday, 30 July 2000
After the war · From the books
Lahoud says the army's role in the south will be defined 'in due course'.
Lahoud's Army Day speech left the army's role undefined, so no national strategy emerged; the government called Hezbollah's continuing fight a 'national struggle'.
Sources differ: 30 July (Picard 2002) or 29 July (Picard 2016).
Other date in the books: Saturday, 29 July 2000
\_this day in full \_on this day
December 2004
Wednesday, 15 December 2004
After the war · From the books
The opposition unites in the Bristol Declaration.
The Bristol Hotel declaration of Christian and Druze parties, Hariri loyalists and leftists demanded independence and democracy, accepted a Lebanese share in the war, and blamed the postwar crisis on a corrupt state ruling by fear.
Sources differ: 15 December (Haugbolle's text) or 12 December (his own note): the declaration may have been published before the formal meeting, or one date is a slip.
\_this day in full \_on this day
June 2005
Thursday, 30 June 2005
Since 2005 · From the books
Fouad Siniora is chosen as Prime Minister.
A parliament dominated by the 14 March parties chose Fouad Siniora, Rafic Hariri's trusted associate, as prime minister. Israel had retaliated, on a limited scale, for a major Hezbollah attack in the Shebaa Farms launched a few hours before the nomination.
Sources differ: Abirached's chronology has Siniora forming the government on 30 June; Khayat says only that he was designated at the end of June. For the government itself, de Clerck & Malsagne (Confluences) give 19 July (see the following entry).
\_this day in full \_on this day
July 2006
Saturday, 15 July 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · 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
\_this day in full \_on this day
Sunday, 30 July 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · 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.
\_this day in full \_on this day
