202 entries on 182 dates · the books disagree on 47
dates 1–60 of 182 next
April 1969
Wednesday, 23 April 1969
The road to war · From the books
Security forces fire on pro-Palestinian demonstrations; Karami resigns.
Prime Minister Rashid Karami resigned after violent protests, notably in Tripoli: in Beirut and Sidon the army and security forces had fired on mass demonstrations backing the Palestinian resistance, leaving dead and wounded, and in Sidon a march from Ain al-Hilweh camp became an army-commando battle. A cabinet crisis of over seven months followed.
Sources differ: Hanf places Karami's resignation after President Helou's television address of 6 May; Traboulsi and de Clerck & Malsagne put it on or right after 23 April. The length of the crisis is 215 days (Traboulsi) or 216 days (de Clerck & Malsagne). Hanf names Sidon and Ain al-Hilweh; Traboulsi Sidon and Beirut; de Clerck & Malsagne Beirut.
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March 1970
Monday, 23 March 1970
The road to war · From the books
A Palestinian funeral convoy is fired on at Kahhale.
Palestinians died when a convoy carrying a guerrilla's coffin to Damascus for burial and the residents of Kahhale, a Maronite village, traded fire. Who shot first, and how many were killed, is disputed. Hanf places the incident among the first serious clashes between Palestinians and armed Christians.
Sources differ: De Clerck & Malsagne: a Kataeb attack, 18 Palestinians dead. Hanf: ten dead; he reports both sides' versions and judges it likeliest that villagers took Palestinian shots into the air for an attack.
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January 1973
Tuesday, 23 January 1973
The road to war · From the books
The army fires on tobacco growers, killing two.
Two peasants died on 23 January 1973 when soldiers fired on protesting tobacco growers. About 20,000 rallied in Beirut in support, and clashes spread across Lebanon.
Sources differ: Place: Nabatieh (Traboulsi) or Kfar Remmaneh-Nabatieh (Tufaro). Aftermath: 20,000 in Beirut 'a few days later' (Traboulsi) or a march from the South to Beirut the next day (Tufaro); possibly the same event.
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May 1973
Wednesday, 2 May 1973
The road to war · From the books
Heavy fighting as the army rings Beirut's Palestinian camps.
More than 100 Lebanese and Palestinians were killed in two weeks of fighting that began on 2 May, when the army deployed around Beirut's largest Palestinian camps; the CIA called these the worst clashes since 1969. Uprisings broke out in Sidon and Tripoli, and Beirut's Muslim neighbourhoods filled with demonstrators.
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April 1974
Tuesday, 2 April 1974
The road to war · From the books
Left-wing union federations call their own general strike.
The leftist federations called a general strike on their own, after a big demonstration against inflation. Tufaro says it opened the way to the first real gains: peasants entered the social security fund, and Article 50 of the Labour Law, which let employers sack workers at will, was partly reformed.
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January 1975
March 1975
Wednesday, 12 March 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The cabinet transfers two officers over the Sidon shooting.
On 12 March the Solh cabinet partly yielded to Sidon and the National Movement, giving Sidon's governor a month's administrative leave and moving two army officers, which Gemayel opposed.
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April 1975
Saturday, 12 April 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The government cancels the Protein fishing project.
The cabinet's decision to scrap the Protein scheme and compensate Sidon's fishermen came a month after its first concessions, and a day before Ain al-Rummaneh.
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May 1975
Friday, 23 May 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Following the resignation of the Government of Rachid El Solh, Sleiman Frangieh, President of the Republic, put together a military government.
The new government was headed by Noureddine Rifai, a retired Corporal, and included only one civilian, Lucien Dahdah. This Government was in charge of reestablishing the peace in the country caused by bloody clashes between the Phalange Party and the Resistance. These clashes were still going on in Beirut and its surroundings.
What the books addNureddine al-Rifai was a retired Sunni officer: a general according to Hanf, a brigadier-general according to Traboulsi, an officer of the gendarmerie according to de Clerck and Malsagne.
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July 1975
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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September 1975
Tuesday, 2 September 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Fedayeen stab to death the Christian owner of a Ta'labaya wheat mill and his two sons.
At Ta'labaya near Zahleh, a Christian wheat-mill owner and his two sons were knifed to death by intruding fedayeen.
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October 1975
Thursday, 2 October 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Rachid Karameh presided the meeting of the Ç National Committee for dialog È at the Serail. The committee decided that all armed elements will have to back up from their positions before the next day and will be replaced by Interior Security Forces.
What the books addFormed in September 1975 through Syria's foreign minister Abdel Halim Khaddam, the National Dialogue Committee of some twenty leaders debated secularism and ending sectarian quotas; Hanf says it broke up empty-handed.
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November 1975
Sunday, 2 November 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Chuchu, the famous actor died from a hart attack. His real name was Hassan Alaeddine, the friend of younger and older kids was the most popular comedian on stage and on TV.
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December 1975
Friday, 12 December 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Sixty people are killed in Zahleh.
Six days after Black Saturday, assaults and shelling by Palestine Liberation Army and Yarmouk units killed sixty Christians of Zahleh; Bishop Bassul called it a massacre.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne blame attacks by the PLA and Yarmouk units; Tegho Bou Nassif blames fedayeen shelling.
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February 1976
Monday, 23 February 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A forty-five years old fanatic locked up 35 persons at the Canadian embassy. This situation lasted 8 hours and immersed Lebanon in a torrid suspense. The hostages were then liberated in a happy ending.
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March 1976
Friday, 12 March 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
A Phalange delegation travels secretly to Israel.
Ammunition running out, Pierre Gemayel relented, and on 12 March 1976 the Phalangists Joseph Abu Khalil, Sami Khoueiry and Fouad Roukoz went by speedboat to Israel for arms. Israel shipped them within days but again ruled out intervening directly.
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Tuesday, 23 March 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The ' Beirut Battle ' continued amid shelling.
The past 48 hours resulted in 150 deaths and 300 injuries. The control of downtown was at stake. Moslem-Progressive forces backed by Palestinian organizations were determined to eliminate any Phalangist presence West of the Martyrs Square. The new front was established on the axis Starco Hilton, while Phalangist militiamen faced assaults launched from the Riad El Solh and the Nejmeh Squares towards the Port area. In the Mountain where artillery duels continued, a common Palestinian Progressive breakthrough attempt was turned down in Mansourieh.
What the books addHanf traces the line that went on dividing the city along the Damascus road and across Martyrs Square to the harbour. It was set once the Kataeb, losing the Holiday Inn, had no positions left in West Beirut.
Art and memory- film Jocelyne Saab's 1976 documentary Beyrouth, jamais plus captures a Beirut that was disappearing.
Other date in the books: Monday, 22 March 1976
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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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Monday, 12 April 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Assad attacks the National Movement and offers to intervene.
Pierre Gemayel called it a historic speech: in Damascus, President Assad said Syria was ready to send forces into Lebanon to protect any oppressed group, Christian or Muslim, and attacked the PLO and National Movement leaders.
Sources differ: Traboulsi's chronology lists 'al-Asad's speech attacking LNM' under '13 March', apparently a misprint for 12 April.
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June 1976
Wednesday, 2 June 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The residents of Beirut and its surroundings were living in the dark. The last cable supplying the capital with power had been broken. Daily life was very difficult.
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Bashir Gemayel and Kamal Jumblatt meet secretly.
For an end to military pressure on Bikfaya, Bashir Gemayel offered Kamal Jumblatt full secularisation when they met secretly in West Beirut; Jumblatt offered to keep a Maronite president and a senate. Both opposed the Syrian intervention. That day the Lebanese Front, in its last statement of the year, asked Frangieh to coordinate with Sarkis.
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August 1976
Thursday, 12 August 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Tell El Zaatar assault and massacre
After a siege that lasted 52 days, the Tell El Zaatar Palestinian camp fell in the hands of the Lebanese Forces as a result of an ultimate assault launched at dawn. It was in total confusion that the 12000 camp residents were evacuated. In retaliation, kidnappings were reported in West Beirut. 2000 people died in fighting during the entire siege, and 4000 were wounded. The surviving cilvilians were settled by The PLO in other camps and in Damour.
What the books addTal al-Za'tar fell on 12 August 1976 (13 August in Ménargues) after more than 70 assaults. Ménargues and Hanf count a siege of 52-53 days from the final offensive; de Clerck and Malsagne and Traboulsi count six months from the January blockade. An ICRC report cited by de Clerck and Malsagne puts the dead at about 2,500 residents and defenders and up to 800 attackers; many died trying to escape. The Tigers and the Guardians of the Cedar led the last assault, reportedly with Syrian and Israeli officers present. The camp was bulldozed and never rebuilt.
Art and memory- novel Liana Badr's novel The Eye of the Mirror tells of a girl growing up in Tal al-Za'tar during the siege of 1976.
- artwork Ziad Rahbani made the siege of Tal al-Za'tar widely known through one of his musical works.
- film Georges Hachem's film Balle perdue (2010) is set in late summer 1976 north of Beirut, in the lull that followed the fall of Tal al-Za'tar.
- place Tal al-Za'tar was bulldozed after its fall in 1976; neither it nor Jisr al-Basha, both levelled that year, has been rebuilt.
- testimony Nayla Hachem's testimony describes her relief work in 1976 at the siege of Tal al-Za'tar, the fall of Nabaa and the massacres; she was a nurse, later an ICRC delegate.
- book In Camille Chamoun's war diary, Tal al-Za'tar's fall in August 1976 was a triumph of fighters of every class.
- artwork The play Silence, ça tourne (2025) is built on the testimony of a Swedish nurse who survived the siege of Tal al-Za'tar.
Other dates in the books: Sunday, 4 January 1976, Friday, 13 August 1976
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September 1976
Thursday, 23 September 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Elias Sarkis, sixth President of the Republic, took the constitutional oath at the Park Hotel in Chtaura, in presence of 67 deputies.
What the books addSyrian helicopters and armoured limousines carried the 67 deputies to the Park Hotel in Chtaura, in the Syrian-held Bekaa, where 2,000 Syrian soldiers and 40 tanks guarded the ceremony (Fisk). Sarkis used his address to declare that Lebanon itself had invited the Syrian army in (Hanf).
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January 1977
Wednesday, 12 January 1977
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The collection of heavy and light arms continued while the government was helping the victims of the war and trying to boost the economy.
What the books addUnder the Riyadh decisions of October 1976 all parties were to give up heavy weapons to the Arab Deterrent Force; the Hoss government set a 5 December 1976 deadline (Traboulsi). Fisk reports the militias did not hand them in; Hanf, that the Palestinians moved most of theirs south of the 'red line'.
Other date in the books: Monday, 18 October 1976
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Sunday, 23 January 1977
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
In Broumana and in presence of 25 delegates, the week of the Lebanese Forces was held under the sign of coexistence.
This three-day seminar adopted the principle of diversity in respect of heritage and cultures. The seminar emphasized the need to solve Lebanon's economic problem using modern solutions.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne put the Lebanese Front's seminar at the Sayyidat al-Bir convent, not Broumana, on 21 January 1977. Its leaders, they report, judged the independence-era institutions obsolete, raised partition and defined a 'plurality of civilisational groups'. The body was the Lebanese Front, the Christian leaders' coalition, not the Lebanese Forces militia.
Other date in the books: Friday, 21 January 1977
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February 1977
Saturday, 12 February 1977
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
A decree-law opens the rebuilding of the army.
Deserters could return to the ranks, and officers who had fought in the conflict were asked to resign, under a decree-law that opened President Sarkis's programme for rebuilding the army. De Clerck and Malsagne say nearly 9,000 soldiers were removed and 12,000 new volunteers enlisted.
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April 1977
Saturday, 23 April 1977
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The integrity of Southern Lebanon will be jointly guaranteed by Syria and the Soviet Union . This was the message that President Assad transmitted to President Sarkis, following recent meetings between Assad and Brejnev. He also said that a Lebanese force should insure security in Southern Lebanon.
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August 1977
October 1977
February 1978
March 1978
Thursday, 23 March 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
General Gour, from the Israeli army, affirmed that Israeli withdrawal from the South of Lebanon would start within a few days.
What the books addFisk adds that during the invasion Gur declared that Israel would fall back to the Christian enclaves as a border 'security belt': the strip that became Major Haddad's.
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The first UNIFIL troops, French paratroopers, enter Tyre.
Armed Palestinian fighters still held Tyre's streets when Colonel Jean Germain Salvan's French paratroop battalion, the vanguard of the new UN force, drove in. At the handover of the Hassan Borro barracks, a quarrel between Palestinians and Lebanese officers came close to gunfire.
Sources differ: Entry 179 dates the first arrival of UN troops to 22 March.
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April 1978
Sunday, 23 April 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
At the Villa Mansour, the committee of the ' Thirteen ', that included leaders from all parliamentary blocks, adopted a blueprint claiming the end of the Palestinian armed action on the entire Lebanese territory. The Parliament unanimously approved the resolution on the 27th of April.
What the books addNeither parliament nor president could enforce the resolution, Hanf notes. The 74 deputies in attendance passed it without dissent: it reserved arms to the legitimate Lebanese forces, told the Palestinians and 'other parties' to end armed action, and applied Lebanese law to all on Lebanese soil.
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May 1978
Tuesday, 2 May 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A fight opposed the UNIFL and the Palestinians. The French barrack in Tyr was bombed and the commander of the French contingent was seriously injured.
What the books addColonel Jean Germain Salvan was badly hurt in both legs in early May, Fisk writes, when dissident PLO gunmen fired on the Fatah jeep carrying him, killing a French soldier and his Palestinian driver; Arafat called it a crime. Hanf adds that such losses made the French unit much more careful.
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Friday, 12 May 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Seiman Frangieh and Rachid Karameh reconciled under the auspices of the Syrian commander of the Arab Strike Force in Northern Lebanon.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne record that Frangieh had quit the Lebanese Front the day before over its ties with Israel. The reconciliation, Hanf notes, made the north a pro-Syrian bloc.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 11 May 1978
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July 1978
September 1978
Saturday, 23 September 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
After President Sarkis delivered a speech underlining the necessity to maintain the Arab Strike Force and guarantee the forthcoming withdrawal of Syrian forces, about 200 shells hit Achrafieh. The population panicked.
What the books addSchools, hospitals and factories were destroyed in the new bombardment, and Lebanese gendarmes logged 2,000 impacts a day in Achrafieh. Hanf links it to the Camp David agreement reached a few days before.
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January 1979
Friday, 12 January 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Members of the Commission of Justice requested the adoption of a law prohibiting the sale of lands to non-Lebanese. In the south, it seemed that many lands have been sold to non-Lebanese.
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February 1979
Monday, 12 February 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Brian Urqhart, the assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, examined with Lebanese officials the modalities of the Army's deployment in the South next to the UNIFL Israel nevertheless rejected the program.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 18 April 1979
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March 1979
Friday, 23 March 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Finally, 600 Lebanese soldiers replaced the Saudis in East Beirut in an atmosphere of popular emotion.
What the books addMénargues: once the Saudis said in March 1979 they would hand their positions to the army, an army–militia clash looked inevitable; intelligence chief Johnny Abdo reopened contact with Bashir.
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April 1979
Thursday, 12 April 1979
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Damascus says Syria will leave Lebanon only once its aims are achieved.
In a Le Monde interview, a Syrian leader, probably Foreign Minister Abd al-Halim Khaddam, said Syria would withdraw from Lebanon when its aims were met; Picard cites it among examples of Damascus's high-handed treatment of Lebanese leaders.
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May 1979
Saturday, 12 May 1979
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Fighting between the Kataeb and the NLP militia breaks out in Furn el-Chebbak.
Bashir Gemayel's Kataeb and Camille Chamoun's National Liberal Party (Ahrar) first fought in Furn el-Chebbak, in Beirut's eastern suburbs; the fighting then reached every spot where their militias faced each other and, by its end in July 1980, had claimed dozens of victims.
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June 1979
July 1979
Thursday, 12 July 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Unrest spread in West Beirut where Shiite militiamen manifested their anger against the eventual visit to Beirut of Colonel Kadhafi. The Lebanese government cancelled, under pressure from both officials and Shiite masses, the visit of the Libyan president.
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Monday, 23 July 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A Lebanese cargo airplane from the freight company 'Trans Mediterranean Airway' crashed on one of the Beirut Airport runways. The six occupants of the four engine aircraft died.
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September 1979
Wednesday, 12 September 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The notables of Zghorta and Becharreh reconciled under the aegis of Patriarch Khoreiche. In a common declaration, the notables requested the deployment of the army in their region.
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October 1979
November 1979
Monday, 12 November 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The work document that Lebanon was going to present in Tunis, contained 6 main points: exercising pressure on the United States to end Israeli aggressions, freezing the actions of the Fedayin, laying the Lebanese authority in the South, banning any illegal armed presence, re-activating the Beiteddine Committee, and grouping guerillas in some specified zones.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 20 November 1979
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Friday, 23 November 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Tunis summit was disappointing. Lebanon received only a solemn proclamation of support doubled by a financial assistance up to 2 billion dollars, but the Southern Lebanon problem remained unsolved, the summit having just called the State and the resistance to get along.
What the books addThe Arab summit met in Tunis from 20 to 22 November 1979.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 20 November 1979
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January 1980
Wednesday, 2 January 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The chief of the 'Iranian volunteers', Hodjatolislam Mohammed Montazeri, held a press conference in Beirut during which he reasserted his men's determination to go to South Lebanon to 'fight imperialism and Zionism.' And he added: 'We will come by thousands.'
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne have Iranian clerics and activists settling in the Bekaa, and then in Tyre, from 1980, before 500 to 2,000 Revolutionary Guards entered Lebanon in June 1982.
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February 1980
Saturday, 23 February 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Criminal madness was unleashed in Lebanon. An odious assault was reported in the Sursock district. A car bomb killed 8 persons including Maya, Bechir Gemayel's 20 months old daughter, and injured 20 others. This explosion was aimed at the chief commander of the Lebanese Forces.
What the books addMénargues writes that Bashir Gemayel usually took Maya to her grandmother's on Saturdays but, sick after the sea crossing from Jerusalem the day before, had her governess and his bodyguards take her in his car, which was blown up less than a kilometre from his home. He blames the Palestinians there; later he says an inquiry into Aman el-Mandoubine, a network run by a Fatah intelligence officer, led to the arrest of two Christians who planted the bomb. One annex dates the attack 21 February.
Art and memory- memorial Ménargues reports that the Lebanese Forces' secret military plan, shown to the Israelis on 5 March 1982, was called 'M' in memory of Bashir's daughter Maya.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 21 February 1980
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March 1980
April 1980
Saturday, 12 April 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Saad Haddad militiamen attacked UNIFL soldiers. Bombings destroyed two United Nations helicopters in Nakoura.
What the books addFisk: in the April 1980 fighting at At-Tiri, Haddad's gunmen killed Private Stephen Griffin of the Irish UNIFIL battalion and UN troops killed a militiaman, whose death two other Irish soldiers later paid for. The militia also held the coastal strip between the French unit and Naqoura and shot at helicopters.
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May 1980
Friday, 23 May 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Shells fell on the center of Saida killing 4 persons and wounding 14 others.
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Northern Lebanese front flared up again. Militiamen from the Marada launched an attack against the Phalangist positions. In the jurd of the Batroun region, five persons were killed and 20 others wounded.
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July 1980
dates 1–60 of 182 next
