239 entries on 212 dates · the books disagree on 61
dates 1–60 of 212 next
January 1970
Tuesday, 27 January 1970
The road to war · From the books
Annexes to the Cairo Agreement are concluded.
Dated 27 January 1970, the Cairo Agreement's annexes, in Picard's summary, let armed fedayeen travel to and from the southern fronts, chiefly the Arqoub, and put the camps outside Lebanese jurisdiction under Palestinian military police.
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March 1970
Wednesday, 25 March 1970
The road to war · From the books
Bashir Gemayel is kidnapped and held in Tall al-Za'tar.
Kamal Jumblatt's intervention with Yasir Arafat freed Bashir Gemayel, the Kataeb leader's younger son, seized by Palestinians and held in Tall al-Za'tar camp.
Sources differ: Hanf: 25 March 1970, held eight hours. Ménargues: 1969, adding he was beaten. Jumblatt became interior minister after the November 1969 Cairo Agreement (Hanf), which fits late 1969 or 1970.
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May 1971
Tuesday, 25 May 1971
The road to war · From the books day (planned strike)
A general strike set for 25 May is put off after a 5 per cent wage rise.
The General Workers' Union set a general strike for 25 May 1971 but deferred it when a 5 per cent wage rise was decreed. It sought 11 per cent more pay, lower rents, state imports of medicines and basic foods, a law for farm labourers and no more arbitrary dismissals.
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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
April 1975
Sunday, 13 April 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A serious incident opposed the Phalange (Kataeb) Party to the Resistance in Ain El Remmaneh causing 31 deaths.
These people were on board of a bus bringing back from Tell El Zaatar members of Palestinian Organizations who had just participated in a Resistance meeting. Because of the incident, tension rose in the Palestinian camp and in many surrounding towns. Authorities and mediators were trying to calm the waters and ask the Phalange Party leader, Pierre Gemayel, to hand over those responsible of the incident to the Lebanese Justice.
What the books addThe day began with shootings near the church in Ain al-Rummaneh, where Pierre Gemayel was attending a consecration; his bodyguard Joseph Bou Assi was killed. In the early afternoon Kataeb militiamen fired on a bus returning to Tal al-Za'tar from a rally of the Arab Liberation Front. Most historians count 27 dead (Hanf, Fisk, de Clerck and Malsagne: 27 of 35 passengers); Traboulsi gives 21 and Ménargues 31. According to de Clerck and Malsagne the bus carried Palestinians and Lebanese in equal numbers, all men. Fighting spread that evening across the suburbs of Beirut.
Art and memory- film In Ziad Doueiri's West Beyrouth (1998), the teenager Tarek witnesses the Ain al-Rummaneh bus attack, and the next day his family is stopped at a roadblock and asked for identity cards.
- artwork A copy of the Dodge bus attacked in 1975 stood on a street in central Beirut in April 2003, for the 28th anniversary, as the installation '13th of April'.
- book De Clerck and Malsagne take the morning incidents, the bus passengers and the finding that no Kataeb leader ordered the attack from Marwan Chahine's pioneering investigation, Beyrouth, 13 avril 1975. Autopsie d'une étincelle (Belfond, 2024).
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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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Saturday, 13 September 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Deir Achache in Akkar falls; three priests are killed.
Three priests were shot and the inhabitants expelled when Saiqa and fedayeen fighters seized Deir Achache, a Christian village in Akkar.
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Thursday, 25 September 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Guardians of the Cedars issue their first communiqué.
Al-Nahar carried the first communiqué of the Guardians of the Cedars, Etienne Sakr's radical nationalist militia, whose thinking drew on the poet Said Akl. El Khoury thinks it had formed some months earlier.
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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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Saturday, 25 October 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
50 000 Lebanese demonstrated against violence in Lebanon, in response to the call launched by Cherif Akhaoui, the radio journalist famous for his security bulletins.
What the books addHaugbolle notes widespread protests on National Day in November 1975; Hanf places the war's first demonstration in that month, when gunmen held fire until tens of thousands from East and West Beirut, summoned by television announcer Sharif Akhawi, had gone home.
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Monday, 27 October 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Murr tower was occupied by the Mourabitun, and the Holliday Inn-Phoenicia region was held by the Phalange Party.
What the books addBegun in late October 1975 (20 October in de Clerck and Malsagne's chronology), the Battle of the Hotels ran for five months, ending when the Holiday Inn fell on 20-22 March 1976. Traboulsi links its launch to Black Saturday in December.
Other date in the books: Monday, 20 October 1975
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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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January 1976
Tuesday, 13 January 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Damour is completely encircled and heavily shelled.
With Damour now fully surrounded, its besiegers shelled the town heavily.
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March 1976
Thursday, 25 March 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The presidential palace at Baabda is shelled; Frangieh leaves for Kfour.
With the Baabda palace shelled by the Lebanese Arab Army and the Joint Forces, Frangieh moved to Kfour in Kesrouan, where he joined Chamoun, Gemayel and Father Qassis on the Lebanese Front, formed in late May.
Sources differ: Traboulsi says Frangieh took refuge 'in East Beirut'; de Clerck and Malsagne, Yara El Khoury and Hanf name Kfour in Kesrouan.
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The unified command of the Lebanese Forces is announced.
Baabda palace was shelled that day. In the evening the Kataeb's Voice of Lebanon radio announced a unified command of the Lebanese Forces, joining the Tanzim, the Guardians of the Cedars, Chamoun's Tigers and the Kataeb militia.
Sources differ: Dates differ: Ménargues puts the founding of the Lebanese Forces' unified command on 31 August 1976, while El Khoury says the formal union was announced to Frangieh in early September.
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Saturday, 27 March 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Assad and Jumblatt break after a seven-hour meeting.
The lasting rupture between Kamal Jumblatt and President Assad came at a meeting of some seven hours in Damascus. Assad refused what Jumblatt sought, a decisive military defeat of the Lebanese Front and Frangieh's departure, saying the Constitutional Document already gave him most of it. The same day the Maronite leaders met the patriarch at Bkerké.
Sources differ: Ménargues reports a further long meeting in mid-May.
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April 1976
Friday, 2 April 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A ten-day truce had bee decided, in order to elect a new President of the Republic after the expected departure of Sleiman Frangieh.
What the books addParliament used the truce to amend Article 73 of the constitution so that Frangieh's successor could be elected early: on 9 April according to Hanf, 10 April according to Yara El Khoury. The truce had coincided with the arrival on 31 March of the US envoy Dean Brown.
Other dates in the books: Wednesday, 31 March 1976, Friday, 9 April 1976, Saturday, 10 April 1976
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May 1976
Tuesday, 25 May 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Raymond Eddeh fell into an ambush between Nahr Ibrahim and Antelias. The Amid's car was riddled with over a hundred projectiles but he got away with only an injured leg.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne record three attempts on Raymond Eddé's life, one outside his home, before his voluntary exile in Paris from January 1977; Picard dates the exile to December 1976.
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Thursday, 27 May 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Linda Joumblatt, Kamal Joumblatt's 55 years old sister, was cowardly assassinated in her home in Beirut. A group of armed men broke into her apartment and opened fire on her. She was killed while her daughters Nouha, 28 years old, and Samar, 18 years old were injured.
What the books addOn 2 June Bashir Gemayel, having asked for a secret meeting with Kamal Jumblatt, offered him condolences and information on who had killed her. Traboulsi names her Linda al-Atrash and puts her apartment in East Beirut.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 2 June 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Lebanese Arab Army attacks Qubayat and Andaqit in Akkar.
Qubayat and Andaqit, Maronite villages in Akkar under siege and bombardment since January, were attacked by Lebanese Arab Army units. Syria cited the attack to justify intervening.
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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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Sunday, 27 June 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Beirut International Airport was heavily bombed. An MEA Boeing 707 caught fire on the runway. The airplane's pilot died in the accident.
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Phalange Party, the NLP, and the Guardians of the Cedar launched the 'Camps Battle'.
What the books addYara El Khoury dates the start of the final offensive on Jisr al-Basha and Tal al-Za'tar to 22 June 1976, and Hanf's account (Jisr al-Basha stormed eight days after the first assault, on 1 July) points to the same week. The camps had been blockaded since January. Hanf says Chamoun's Tigers and Christian units of the army led the attack, the Kataeb joining later; a joint command of Bashir Gemayel (Kataeb), Dany Chamoun and Nabil Karam (NLP), Fawzi Mahfouz (Tanzim) and Etienne Saqr (Guardians of the Cedar) coordinated it (de Clerck and Malsagne).
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 22 June 1976
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July 1976
Tuesday, 13 July 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
William Hawi, commnander of the Kataeb military forces was shot and killed by a sniper whilst he was inspecting his forces on the edge of the Tel el Zaatar camp.
What the books addMénargues has William Hawi shot by a Palestinian sniper in June 1976, at the end of the Tal al-Za'tar siege; Traboulsi places it during the siege. Bashir Gemayel succeeded him as Kataeb militia chief.
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September 1976
October 1976
Wednesday, 13 October 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Syrian forces take Bhamdoun.
Renewing their drive on Sidon, Syrian forces also took Bhamdoun on 13 October against stiff Palestinian resistance. The losses, with Saudi pressure, led Damascus to accept the Riyadh summit two days later.
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Monday, 25 October 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Arab summit in Cairo endorses the Riyadh decisions.
Iraq and Libya alone objected when, on 25 October, a Cairo summit of the full Arab League endorsed the Riyadh decisions. Syria's troops in Lebanon became the Arab Deterrent Force, funded by the Arab oil states.
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March 1977
Sunday, 27 March 1977
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Arab League decided to renew the mandate of the Arab Strike Force for another six months.
What the books addThe force is usually called the Arab Deterrent Force (ADF) in English.
Other date in the books: Monday, 18 October 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A powerful plastic charge, deposited in the elevator of the Minister of Defense, Fouad Boutros, exploded destroying the upper floor of the apartment.
What the books addThe bombing came the evening the government chose a new army commander, a change arranged by Boutros, who held foreign affairs and defence, and regarded by the Christian parties as cause for war.
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May 1977
Friday, 13 May 1977
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
An Antonov-12 air freighter belonging to the Polish company LOT crashed in the forest of Aramoun. The airplane that was returning from Warsaw carried a shipment of meat and seven crewmembers who perished in the accident.
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July 1977
Monday, 25 July 1977
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
An agreement was signed in Chtaura.
The technical four-party committee decided unanimously the following: -Approving the two plans of action for the execution of the Cairo agreement. -Entrusting the regular Lebanese forces and the Arab Strike Force with the supervision of their execution in all regions, including Southern Lebanon. -Starting the execution of the two plans of action on July 30, no armed elements will be allowed to circulate outside the camps. -Withdrawal of the Palestinian forces up to 15 kilometers north of the borderline with Israel.
What the books addSyria, Hanf writes, had lost interest in disarming the Palestinians by autumn 1977, with Sadat's initiative under way, and the deal soon counted for nothing. It had bound the PLO to keep out of a ten-kilometre belt beside the Israeli frontier and, chiefly, to halt raids and shelling across it.
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August 1977
Saturday, 27 August 1977
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Although the collection of heavy arms was achieved, the Lebanese Front issued a press release, following the Ehden conference, emphasizing ' the necessity of spreading out Palestinians residing in Lebanon over the countries belonging to the Arab League.'
What the books addHanf records that Damascus rejected the Lebanese Front's demands of May 1977: annulment of the Cairo Agreement and dispersal among other Arab states of the 200,000 Palestinians its leaders regarded as illegal entrants.
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September 1977
Sunday, 25 September 1977
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Following efforts deployed by the American government in Tel Aviv, a cease-fire came into effect in Southern Lebanon. During the past few days, fights reached their maximum intensity especially in the Khyam region.
What the books addIsrael's Christian allies emerged with a slightly wider strip, spanning nearly the whole frontier from sea to Hermon; Fisk dates the tank withdrawal to 26 September.
Other date in the books: Monday, 26 September 1977
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October 1977
January 1978
February 1978
Monday, 27 February 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Diverse shows were scheduled in Lebanon. 'We Belnesba la bokra chou?' by Ziad Rahbani was a triumph at the Orly Theater.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne and Haugbolle list this 1978 play first among Ziad Rahbani's comedies, which satirised the war from West Beirut.
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March 1978
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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June 1978
Tuesday, 13 June 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A dramatic event was reported in Zghorta. A chock commando killed Tony Frangieh, deputy and son of the President Sleiman Frangieh, his wife Vera and their daughter Jihane, at their home in Ehden. The murder of Tony Frangieh took place while the conflict between the Phalange Party and the Zghortiotes was at its peak.
What the books addHistorians date the Ehden killings to 13 June (de Clerck and Malsagne) or 14 June (Hanf). A unit of some 200 men (Traboulsi) led by Samir Geagea attacked the Frangieh residence; besides Tony Frangieh, his wife and their three-year-old daughter, about thirty relatives and supporters were killed. The Phalange presented the raid as retaliation for the killing of their local leader Jud al-Bayeh in early June; Bashir Gemayel denied ordering the killing of the family. The raid also turned on control of the Chekka cement works. Syrian troops then occupied Ehden and much of the north.
Art and memory- book De Clerck and Malsagne refer to a 2016 article by Dan Naor on how the Frangieh family made Ehden a resistance myth.
- testimony Women mourners keened at Tony Frangieh's funeral in 1978 until his father, the former president, stepped in to quiet them.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 14 June 1978
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Israel completes its withdrawal but hands the border strip to Major Haddad.
UNIFIL was kept out of a border belt 5 to 10 km deep that stayed in the hands of Major Saad Haddad's militia when Israeli troops officially left South Lebanon.
Sources differ: Hanf gives 12 June; Picard says July.
Other date in the books: Monday, 12 June 1978
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July 1978
August 1978
Friday, 25 August 1978
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Imam Musa al-Sadr travels to Libya, where he disappears.
Imam Musa al-Sadr, the Shi'i leader who founded the Movement of the Deprived and Amal, vanished after accepting an invitation to visit Libya.
Sources differ: Hanf says September; Fisk reported the disappearance on 13 September; original entry 212 has 10 September.
Art and memory- book Fouad Ajami's book on the imam, The Vanished Imam: Musa al-Sadr and the Shia of Lebanon (1986).
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March 1979
Tuesday, 13 March 1979
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Parliament adopts a law to rebuild the army and send it south.
The new defence law set up a Higher Defence Council and a Military Council, allocated military posts by sect among the six main communities, allowed the army to be used only with national consensus, and planned its deployment to the UNIFIL area in the south.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne give 13 March 1979 in their text and 13 May in their chronology, where the entry sits between February and March, so 13 May is probably a slip. Picard gives March 1979.
Other dates in the books: Wednesday, 18 April 1979, Sunday, 13 May 1979
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April 1979
May 1979
Sunday, 13 May 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Amine Gemayel, deputy of the Northern Metn and member of the Phalange Party's political bureau, escaped from an assassination attempt that nearly cost him his two children's life. A plastic explosive (20 kg of TNT) tied to a 122 mm bomb placed in a trunk of a tree, exploded at the time Amine Gemayel's car went by. He was injured in the face. This incident caused a general strike in the Eastern regions.
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June 1979
Wednesday, 27 June 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Syrians and Israelis faced each other in the sky of Damour. Four Syrian Migs were shut down. At the Southern border, shelling continued between Progressive Palestinians on one side and the militia of Saad Haddad and Israel on the other.
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July 1979
August 1979
October 1979
Thursday, 25 October 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese government who had just launched a wide offensive against barratry and smuggling, adopted serious measures to insure the supervision of the coasts and to prevent pirate cargos from accosting in the clandestine ports.
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Saturday, 27 October 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A car bomb exploded in basta, next to the office of the Army of Arabic Lebanon provoking 8 deaths and 32 injuries. The attack was followed by a strike in West Beirut.
Other date in the books: Sunday, 22 April 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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Friday, 25 January 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Fights opposed the Phalange Party and the NLP in Ehmej and Annaya. The road leading to Jbeil was closed. An acute crisis erupted between the two parties.
What the books addOne of many clashes between Kataeb and National Liberal militiamen: de Clerck and Malsagne count 46, with 200 dead, from 1976 to 1980, the latest wave running from 12 May 1979 to 2 July 1980 and reaching Achrafieh early in 1980. Ménargues traces the tension of early 1980 partly to disputes over dividing the arms Israel supplied.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 12 May 1979
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February 1980
March 1980
Thursday, 13 March 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Fights opposed Amal to the Fateh, killing seven persons in the Ouzaï-Aramoun region. Leaders of the National Movement started to mediate between the two parties to end the dispute.
What the books addHanf: early in 1980 Amal fought the Iraqi-backed Arab Liberation Front in Beirut's suburbs while Fatah tried to mediate, as relations between Shi'is and Palestinians grew worse; the fighting later reached the south.
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May 1980
dates 1–60 of 212 next
