60 entries on 59 dates · the books disagree on 60
December 1968
Saturday, 28 December 1968
The road to war · From the books
Israeli commandos destroy Lebanon's civil airliners at Beirut airport.
In retaliation for a Palestinian attack on an El Al airliner at Athens, Israeli commandos landed by helicopter at Beirut International Airport and destroyed thirteen or fourteen Lebanese passenger planes on the ground, most of them belonging to Middle East Airlines. The army failed to respond. Abroad the raid was widely condemned; at home it fed anger at the state and sympathy for the Palestinians.
Sources differ: Number of aircraft: 13 (Traboulsi, Hanf, Picard, Fisk) or 14 belonging to three Lebanese companies, 8 of them MEA (de Clerck & Malsagne). Traboulsi and Hanf speak of MEA planes only; Fisk and de Clerck & Malsagne of MEA and other companies. Picard says the Israeli air force blew up the planes; Hanf, Fisk and de Clerck & Malsagne describe a heliborne or landed commando. Picard places the Athens attack 'two months earlier'; Hanf and de Clerck & Malsagne date it 26 December 1968. Traboulsi and Hanf call it a hijacking, de Clerck & Malsagne and Fisk an attack.
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May 1973
Thursday, 17 May 1973
The road to war · From the books
The Melkart protocol ends the army-PLO fighting.
On 17 May, after Frangieh bowed to Arab pressure and halted the army, a West Beirut hotel hosted the Melkart signing: no more Palestinian raids into Israel, and a joint army-Palestinian commission. Hanf says it reaffirmed Cairo and proved as ineffective.
Sources differ: 17 May (de Clerck & Malsagne, Picard) or end of fighting on 18 May followed by the agreement (Hanf). De Clerck & Malsagne say it amended the Cairo Agreement; Hanf that it reaffirmed it.
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June 1975
Friday, 6 June 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Musa al-Sadr announces the Amal movement.
Musa al-Sadr made the founding of Amal public. He already had armed men, as a blast at a Fatah training camp near Baalbek showed soon afterwards.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date Amal's creation to July 1975 (its public revelation by the explosion of 5 July).
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Saturday, 28 June 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Musa al-Sadr begins a hunger strike against the fighting.
Protesting at the fighting in Chiyah, Imam Musa al-Sadr went on hunger strike, pledging to fast until the violence stopped. Christian and Sunni clergy and Palestinians backed him. Traboulsi says he fasted at the Amiliya school until a national unity government was formed.
Sources differ: Traboulsi's wording places the strike about a month before 6 June; de Clerck and Malsagne and Hanf place it in late June, which fits the formation of the Karami cabinet at the end of June.
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July 1975
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
Wednesday, 17 September 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books range
Fighting reaches downtown Beirut; the souks are destroyed.
On the night of 17-18 September the war reached central Beirut. The old souks, where Christian and Muslim traders alike worked, were largely destroyed by Kataeb shelling.
Sources differ: Existing entry 28 records the fighting on 19 September.
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December 1975
Saturday, 6 December 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Pierre Gemayel visits Damascus.
At Assad's invitation, Pierre Gemayel took a Kataeb delegation to Damascus to set out his ideas for a new National Pact, the party's first visit there since the war began. Black Saturday took place in Beirut that day.
Sources differ: Fisk says it was Bashir Gemayel who was in Damascus.
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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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August 1976
Friday, 6 August 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Christian militias take Nabaa; its Shi'i population leaves.
Christian militias occupied the Shi'i and Palestinian district of Nabaa in East Beirut after Imam Musa Sadr negotiated the departure of its Shi'i inhabitants. Tens of thousands fled to the southern suburbs and West Beirut.
Sources differ: Traboulsi's chronology dates the fall of Nabaa to 12 August, with Tal al-Za'tar. The numbers displaced range from more than 40,000 (de Clerck and Malsagne) to 100,000 (Picard) or 200,000 Muslims of East Beirut (Traboulsi).
Art and memory- place Displaced Christians later occupied the abandoned houses of Nabaa, while displaced Muslims and Palestinians occupied houses in Damour.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 12 August 1976
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Tuesday, 17 August 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Upper-Metn battle started. Over 600 shells fell on Faraya-Oyoune El Simane while Palestinians and Progressive forces continued their insane bombing of the capital.
What the books addHanf has the Syrian army moving again only once Tal al-Za'tar had fallen, increasing pressure on the encircled Palestinian and leftist forces in the Upper Metn; these were expelled at the end of September.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 12 August 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Amine Gemayel lists atrocities attributed to the defenders of Tal al-Za'tar.
Days after Tal al-Za'tar fell, Amine Gemayel told a press conference the camp's Palestinian fighters and allies had committed some twenty atrocities. De Clerck and Malsagne cite this as leaders inventing or inflating enemy crimes to justify operations.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 12 August 1976
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October 1976
Sunday, 17 October 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A restricted summit was held in Ryad.
While shells kept falling by hundreds on residential neighborhoods in Beirut, killing and injuring tens of persons, an Arab summit was held in Ryad attended by Presidents Elias Sarkis, Anwar Sadate, Hafez El Assad, the Emir of Kuwait, King Khaled of Saudi Arabia, and Yasser Arafat chairman of the PLO.
This meeting aimed at reaching an agreement ending the Lebanese crisis. It contained the following clauses:
•Starting October 21, putting a final end to fights on all the Lebanese territory.
•Reinforcing the Arab Peace Force in Lebanon
•Entrusting the Arab Strike Force counting 30,000 men, with the duty of ending the combats and repressing any party that violates the cease-fire. It was also in charge of executing the Cairo agreement, as well as maintaining security in the country, collecting heavy armaments and helping the Lebanese authorities to regain control of all public services and institutions.
What the books addRatified by an Arab summit in Cairo on 25 October, the Riyadh decisions required all parties to surrender heavy weapons and the Palestinians to return to the zones granted by the 1969 Cairo Agreement, and created a 30,000-man Arab Deterrent Force under President Sarkis, its largest contingent by far, 25,000-27,000 men, being the Syrian troops already in Lebanon. Saudi Arabia had sent the invitations on 15 October; the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon met the PLO chairman in Riyadh on 16, 17 or 18 October, depending on the historian. The cease-fire's start is dated 16 October (Hanf), 21 October (Traboulsi) or 15 November (de Clerck and Malsagne).
Other dates in the books: Friday, 15 October 1976, Saturday, 16 October 1976, Monday, 18 October 1976
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March 1977
Thursday, 17 March 1977
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Kamal Jumblatt is buried at Mukhtara; his son Walid succeeds him.
Before the burial, Sheikh Aql Abu Shakra laid Kamal Jumblatt's black cloak on the shoulders of his son Walid, not yet thirty; by this rite Walid succeeded him at the head of the family, the Druze, the PSP and the National Movement. He soon sided with Syria.
Sources differ: Ménargues calls 17 March the day of the assassination; de Clerck and Malsagne date it 16 March, which would make 17 March the burial.
Art and memory- testimony Kamal Jumblatt's funeral, where white-veiled women mourners appeared to talk to the dead leader.
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June 1978
Wednesday, 28 June 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A massacre of a unique atrocity was perpetrated in the North of the Bekaa region.
Forty persons from the Christian town of Kaa and its surroundings were kidnapped from their homes at night. 26 were executed at dawn, and their bodies were left in a mass grave. The Lebanese population and especially the Greek Catholic community, to which the victims belonged, were terrorized and distressed.
What the books addThe Qaa massacre is dated to the night of 27-28 June (de Clerck and Malsagne) or to 29 June (Hanf); Ras Baalbek and Jdeidet al-Fakiha were also raided. De Clerck and Malsagne blame Syrians in civilian clothes, carrying name lists and guided by local Christian members of the SSNP and the Communist Party, and see the killings as revenge for Ehden. Hanf counts 26 dead, de Clerck and Malsagne 32 to 36. The community's Supreme Council asked that a day of national mourning be held.
Other dates in the books: Tuesday, 27 June 1978, Thursday, 29 June 1978
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September 1978
Sunday, 17 September 1978
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Egypt and Israel sign the Camp David accords.
Syria could not prevent the Camp David accords, which Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin signed with President Carter as sponsor. Damascus drew closer to the PLO, and within days its guns were again heavily shelling East Beirut.
Sources differ: Hanf gives 18 September and calls it the 'peace treaty'; the treaty itself was signed in March 1979 (Traboulsi).
Other date in the books: Monday, 18 September 1978
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April 1981
Thursday, 2 April 1981
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The battle of Zahleh begins.
From December 1980 the Syrian army held positions on the edge of Zahleh. Lebanese Forces fighters in the town repulsed its attack, and a siege of roughly 90 days followed, which Bashir Gemayel portrayed as a fight for 'the last Christian town' of the East.
Sources differ: Ménargues ends the siege on 30 June 1981 and Fisk by 1 July; de Clerck & Malsagne (p. 80) place the end of hostilities in May–June.
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July 1981
Monday, 6 July 1981
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Bashir Gemayel pledges in writing to break with Israel.
Bashir Gemayel met the Arab Vigilance Committee's condition, a pledge of no cooperation with Israel, in a letter to Sarkis, signed after a secret night visit to Israel on 5–6 July to brief Begin. Sarkis told the committee but never made the letter public.
Sources differ: The original entry 482 dates a Sarkis–Gemayel meeting on the pledge to 8 July.
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November 1981
Monday, 2 November 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Arab Strike Force launched a security operation in the West of the capital where Palestinian, Libyan and Iranian influence multiplied lately.
Other date in the books: Friday, 11 September 1981
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June 1982
Sunday, 6 June 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Israelis invaded the South along three axes.
The Security Council adopted immediately a resolution requesting the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all Israeli forces up to the internationally recognized borderlines. However, this did not stop Israel from reaching Saida and Tyr.
What the books addThe invasion, called 'Operation Peace for Galilee', began on Sunday 6 June: Israeli commandos crossed the border at 1.30 a.m. to attack Beaufort castle (Ménargues), and up to 25,000 troops moved along the coast, through Tibnin and across the eastern sector (Fisk). The government declared a limited aim of a 40-kilometre zone, but Defence Minister Ariel Sharon and Chief of Staff Rafael Eitan kept advancing (Hanf). One overview in de Clerck and Malsagne and Picard's chronology give 5 June.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 5 June 1982
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Monday, 28 June 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The PLO accepted the idea of leaving Beirut to save the city, with, in return, an Israeli withdrawal from the surroundings of the capital.
What the books addFisk dates the PLO's statement that it would leave Beirut, made public by Saeb Salam, to 30 June; Hanf puts its agreement in principle only at the end of July. On 27 June an Israeli cabinet statement had first floated a negotiated exit: the Lebanese army would take over West Beirut and the disarmed fighters would leave by road for Syria (Ménargues).
Other dates in the books: Sunday, 27 June 1982, Wednesday, 30 June 1982
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August 1982
Monday, 2 August 1982
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Israel launches a major offensive against West Beirut.
By Israel's own figure, the opening 48 hours of non-stop bombardment came to 280,000 shells and bombs. Palestinian fighters and their allies then held its columns at the Museum, the port and Bir Hassan.
Sources differ: Original event 585 is dated 1 August; Fisk describes the peak of the bombardment on 4 August.
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Friday, 6 August 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Accra building occupied by refugees collapsed during an Israeli air raid on Beirut, provoking the death of 250 persons.
What the books addIn rue Aussi near Sanayeh park a car bomb exploded among rescuers minutes after Israeli bombs levelled two five-storey blocks, says Robert Fisk's dispatch datelined West Beirut, 5 August; a neighbour put over 100 people, mostly squatters from the camps and the south, beneath the rubble. Arafat had reportedly met there just before.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 5 August 1982
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Tuesday, 17 August 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Prime Minister Chafic Wazzan announced that an agreement on the evacuation of the Fedayin from Beirut had been reached.
Other dates in the books: Saturday, 7 August 1982, Thursday, 12 August 1982, Monday, 16 August 1982
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September 1982
December 1982
May 1983
Friday, 6 May 1983
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Shultz is told in Damascus that Syria will not withdraw.
In Damascus President Assad told US Secretary of State George Shultz that Syria opposed the draft Lebanese-Israeli agreement and would not withdraw; in Beirut, Druze and Phalangist gunners paused only during Shultz's visit.
Sources differ: Hanf dates the Damascus meeting to 6 May, Fisk to 8 May.
Other date in the books: Sunday, 8 May 1983
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August 1983
Sunday, 28 August 1983
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Beirut witnessed four days of madness and bombardments during which the Army lost control of the situation in a matter of one day, in favor of the militiamen.
What the books addTwo US Marines were killed and 14 wounded on 29 August, as Amal, Murabitun and PSP fighters, having seized the south-western suburbs, stormed West Beirut and Syrian-held batteries shelled the east. Using tanks, the army had regained the city centre by 31 August, though not the suburbs.
Other dates in the books: Monday, 29 August 1983, Wednesday, 31 August 1983
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September 1983
Tuesday, 6 September 1983
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Bhamdoun falls; its Christian inhabitants are massacred or flee.
Druze fighters, with tanks and anti-Arafat Palestinian guerrillas, routed the Lebanese Forces at Bhamdoun, a Greek Orthodox town, which was then looted. No bodies of the Christian dead were ever found; De Clerck and Malsagne count 334.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne (p. 178) also record that some anti-Arafat Fatah dissidents hid and saved Christians in Bhamdoun.
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January 1984
Monday, 2 January 1984
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The year started like the previous one ended : everyone was talking about a new security plan for the mountain and the Southern suburbs of Beirut. Nevertheless, the fights continued intermittently in these regions between the Army and the Lebanese Forces on one side and the Progressive Socialist Party and Amal on the other.
What the books addOn 29 January the Druze resumed attacking the army at Souk al-Gharb, after Shi'i militia sniping at the army and French troops from mid-January, Hanf's next escalation.
Other date in the books: Sunday, 29 January 1984
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February 1984
Thursday, 2 February 1984
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The schools closed their doors in the Eastern sector of the capital due to the blind shelling of Beirut and its suburbs.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 1 February 1984
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Friday, 17 February 1984
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Marines withdrew from Beirut. The Italian contingent of the Multinational Force was soon to follow. The capital was left on its own.
What the books addSources date the Marines' departure differently. Hanf: the US announced the 'redeployment' to the ships on 7 February. De Clerck and Malsagne: the evacuation ran from 7 to 26 February, and their chronology dates the MNF withdrawal 26 February - 31 March. Fisk: a last Marine detachment guarding the embassy left on 31 July 1984. The Italians left on 20 February (Hanf).
Art and memory- book Hanf cites Eric Hammel's The Root: The Marines in Beirut, August 1982 - February 1984 for the Marines' own verdict on their mission: of 200 interviewed, about half said it had achieved 'nothing'.
Other dates in the books: Tuesday, 7 February 1984, Tuesday, 31 July 1984
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February 1985
Sunday, 17 February 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The army made a triumphal entrance in Saida. The transition was smooth and no incident followed the Israeli departure.
What the books addTraboulsi dates Israel's exit from Sidon to 17 February 1985. Fisk describes Christians and Muslims briefly celebrating together when Lebanese troops arrived.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 9 January 1985
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May 1985
Tuesday, 28 May 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
As part of the harassment to which were subject foreign nationals, the director of the American University Hospital, David Jacobsen, was kidnapped while he was leaving the Medical Gate.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 22 May 1985
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June 1985
Thursday, 6 June 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Israel officially completed its withdrawal from South Lebanon. Nevertheless, several Israeli soldiers continued to occupy the Security Zone. In reality, the last Israeli armored vehicle left Lebanon on June 10 after an accident in which Israel lost 654 deaths and 3890 injured, and four disappeared soldiers.
What the books addIsraeli losses: de Clerck and Malsagne count 670 dead and nearly 3,000 wounded between June 1982 and June 1985 (and 721 dead and 3,890 wounded for the whole war); Traboulsi writes of some 500 dead. Israel kept a 'security zone' policed with Lahad's South Lebanon Army.
Art and memory- place Israel opened a clandestine prison at Khiam in 1985; Soha Bechara, a communist resistance fighter, was held there for ten years.
Other dates in the books: Sunday, 17 February 1985, Saturday, 28 December 1985
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Monday, 17 June 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Damascus agreement put an end to the Camps War that caused, in four weeks, 700 deaths and 2,500 injured.
What the books addThis ceasefire closed only the first round (May-June 1985) of the 'War of the Camps', also known as the 'Ramadan war'; by the time Syria imposed it, Fisk reports, 600 people had died. Sieges and fighting returned in 1986 and went on until 1987-1988; de Clerck and Malsagne count 2,000 to 3,000 victims in all.
Art and memory- book Hala Abou Zaki studies how the Palestinians' war record serves to justify excluding them today; the War of the Camps (1985-1987), waged by Amal with Syrian help, finished what was left of the PLO.
Other dates in the books: Tuesday, 12 March 1985, Sunday, 19 May 1985, Wednesday, 22 May 1985
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December 1985
Saturday, 28 December 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese Forces, the PSP and Amal signed an agreement in Damascus, putting an end to the Lebanese war.
The year ended with some hope for the Lebanese, following the signature of the tripartite agreement, while the economy was agonizing and hundreds of Lebanese and foreign hostages were living in horrifying daily conditions.
What the books addSigned in Damascus by Elie Hobeika (Lebanese Forces), Nabih Berri (Amal) and Walid Jumblatt (PSP) under Syrian sponsorship. It provided for Christian-Muslim parity during a transition towards the end of political sectarianism, a stronger prime minister and cabinet, a senate, and 'strategic complementarity' with Syria. It did not end the war: President Gemayel refused it and, in January 1986, Samir Geagea's forces drove Hobeika out of East Beirut. Its provisions were largely taken up in the Taif Agreement of 1989.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 12 March 1985
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April 1986
Thursday, 17 April 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The British teachers John Leigh Douglas and Philip Ralph Patfield, kidnapped on the 28th of March 1986, were executed and their bodies were thrown on the Roueissat-Sofar road. A cameraman, John McCarthy, was kidnapped on the Beirut International Airport road. An extremist organization announced the hanging of Alec Colett, a British journalist who was working at the UNRWA. The dead body of Peter Kilburn, librarian at the AUB, who was kidnapped on the 3rd of December 1984, was also found. Furthermore, the British embassy in Zokak EL Blatt was partially destroyed and burned by rocket shots.
What the books addFisk: Libyan agents in Beirut had bought Kilburn and both British teachers from freelance kidnappers; the deaths were reported the night of the US raid on Libya.
Art and memory- book John McCarthy and Brian Keenan, held together in Beirut, later wrote Between Extremes together, about a journey they had planned while in captivity; it is listed in 111101's References.
Other date in the books: Friday, 28 March 1986
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January 1987
Wednesday, 28 January 1987
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Assad and Gemayel met for 55 minutes in Kuwait during a pan-Islamic conference to put an end to a disagreement that lasted one year. Besides, Washington decided to prohibit US nationals from travelling to Lebanon.
What the books addTraboulsi dates the break between the two presidents to their meeting of 13-14 January 1986, when Gemayel rejected the Syrian-sponsored Tripartite Accord.
Other date in the books: Monday, 13 January 1986
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February 1987
Tuesday, 17 February 1987
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Communist thinker Hussein Mroue is assassinated.
Hussein Mroue, a prominent Marxist thinker of the Lebanese Communist Party, was murdered, one of several party officials and intellectuals killed in 1986-87 amid the rift between Hezbollah and the Communists.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne link the killings to the break between Hezbollah and the Communist Party; Hanf attributes the murders of Communist intellectuals in early 1987 to Amal supporters. Neither names the killers of Mroue specifically.
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March 1987
Saturday, 28 March 1987
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
An anti-Syrian assault in Ramlet El Baida constituted the most serious incident since the entry of Syrian troops in West Beirut on February 22nd.
What the books addHanf writes that in June 1987 Walid Jumblatt was forced to surrender to Syria several men of the PSP intelligence branch, his security chief among them, who had joined in hit-and-run attacks on Syrian forces in West Beirut.
Other date in the books: Sunday, 22 February 1987
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February 1988
Wednesday, 17 February 1988
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
US Colonel William Higgins, of the UN truce supervisors, is kidnapped near Tyre.
William Higgins, an American lieutenant-colonel with the UN Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO), was abducted at Tyre. He was accused of making the south a 'buffer zone serving Israel'. Amal held Hezbollah responsible, one of the grievances behind their war. A film of his hanging in captivity was circulated on 31 July 1989.
Sources differ: The Confluences article calls him a UNIFIL official; de Clerck's book says UNTSO.
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April 1988
Wednesday, 6 April 1988
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Following combats between Amal and Hezbollah, Nabatiyeh falls in the hands of Amal militiamen.
What the books addThe books date the start of the Amal-Hezbollah fighting in the south to 5 April 1988 (de Clerck); Picard's chronology gives 28 November 1988, which seems to describe the later round in Beirut.
Other dates in the books: Tuesday, 5 April 1988, Monday, 28 November 1988
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May 1988
Friday, 6 May 1988
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Amal and Hezbollah begin fighting for the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Beirut's southern suburbs became the scene of the second, deadlier round of the Amal-Hezbollah war. Hezbollah took most of the suburbs in about two weeks, after which Syrian troops entered to protect Amal; Quéméner counts 600 dead.
Sources differ: Hanf says Hezbollah, backed by Iranian Revolutionary Guards and by money that bought over Amal commanders, attacked Amal; the Confluences article, citing sources close to Hezbollah, says it held back until Amal attacked. Entry 1074 gives 157 dead and 666 wounded in six days. For the Syrian entry, Hanf gives 17 May 1988, de Clerck and Malsagne '19 May 1989', and entry 1077 gives 27 May.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 17 May 1988
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March 1989
Monday, 6 March 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Yarzeh reactivated 'The Maritime Operations Room:' instructed to watch the navigation movement in the Lebanese waters and to prevent boats from entering the illegal harbours of the country. Sami Khatib (chief commander of the army in the Western sector) closed the access to the port in retort to what was considered a blockade.
What the books addHanf puts Aoun's order to blockade Khalde, Jiyeh and Ouzai, the ports held by the PSP and Amal, on 3 March; de Clerck and Malsagne place the closure of the illegal ports on 6 March. Syria had warned Aoun against acting beyond 'his' area. Beirut and Jounieh harbours and the airport then all shut, Syrian and PSP guns shelling the first two, the army the third.
Other date in the books: Friday, 3 March 1989
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May 1989
Tuesday, 2 May 1989
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Aoun recasts his 'war of liberation' as a diplomatic campaign; Syrian shelling starts again.
Within a week Syrian shelling of the enclave was back at full intensity; Hanf says Syria and its allies kept the Arab League ceasefire only a few days. Aoun, having accepted it, recast his war as a diplomatic struggle.
Sources differ: Hanf gives 2 May both for Aoun's statement and for the renewed shelling; the shelling date may be a misprint.
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September 1989
Wednesday, 6 September 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
2000 angry demonstrators have besieged the American Embassy. Twenty-four hours later, 30 American diplomats, including the Ambassador John Mc Carthy, leave Lebanon.
What the books addAccording to Hanf and Fisk, the embassy closed after demonstrations by Aoun's supporters. A first youth protest at the embassy, against Western 'silence', took place in April 1989.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 16 November 1989
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November 1989
Friday, 17 November 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While Selim Hoss is asked to form the new government, retaliations take place against some deputies from Eastern regions.
What the books addAoun, Hanf writes, warned that any Christian deputy joining a Moawad-Hoss government would lose the right to live in the 'free areas'. When bombs hit the homes of many Christian deputies after the election, his condemnation was half-hearted: he voiced 'understanding for the anger of the people'.
Other date in the books: Sunday, 5 November 1989
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Tuesday, 28 November 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Several reports mentionned important Syrian movements towards the Eastern fronts. In response to General Aoun's call, thousands of Lebanese went to Baabda and watched the Palace day and night.
What the books addThe crowds began gathering at Baabda as soon as Hrawi gave Aoun his ultimatum, according to Hanf the day after the election. The sit-in lasted weeks. Fisk saw the Syrian army move hundreds of tanks and guns into the mountains above Beirut in early December. Emile Lahoud was named army commander on 28 November (de Clerck and Malsagne).
Other date in the books: Saturday, 25 November 1989
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December 1989
Sunday, 17 December 1989
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
After months without a public word, Samir Geagea says the Taif agreement deserves a chance.
The army-militia quarrel, until then about money, now turned political and led into the January 1990 fighting: Hrawi and the Lebanese Forces promptly made contact, which Aoun saw as treason.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne say Geagea accepted Taif without any official statement (p. 175).
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November 1990
Saturday, 17 November 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Greater Beirut security plan: the army deploys and the militias are ordered out of the capital.
Syria, with large forces in West Beirut and the Metn, had cleared the plan beforehand. Troops, their numbers doubled by most of Aoun's former units, took up positions across the capital and all militias were told to go: Amal (south) and the PSP (Chouf) at once, Hezbollah three days later.
Sources differ: Entry 1217 dates the Amal, PSP and Hezbollah withdrawal to 11 November.
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October 2004
Sunday, 17 October 2004
After the war · From the books
The Democratic Left Movement is formally founded.
By December it had joined Christian and Druze parties in signing the Bristol Declaration.
Sources differ: Picard dates a 'Gauche démocratique' to 1997, possibly an earlier group or a slip.
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February 2005
Monday, 28 February 2005
Since 2005 · From the books
Prime Minister Omar Karami resigns under pressure from the street.
Omar Karami's government resigned as demonstrations grew in downtown Beirut.
Sources differ: Two contributors to the same volume differ: Abirached's chronology dates Karami's resignation to 28 February, Khayat's chapter to 27 February. Abirached's dated chronology is the more precise of the two.
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June 2005
Thursday, 2 June 2005
Since 2005 · From the books
Journalist and historian Samir Kassir is killed by a car bomb.
Samir Kassir, academic, columnist and a leading voice against Syrian control, died when a bomb went off in his car. Haugbolle treats the killing as the moment post-Syrian Lebanon's disarray grew plain.
Sources differ: 2 June in four sources (de Clerck & Malsagne, Abirached, Quéméner, Khayat) against 1 June in Haugbolle. 2 June has the most support.
Art and memory- book De Clerck and Malsagne call Samir Kassir's 1994 study, which ends in 1982, a reference work; Kassir himself noted that no academic research yet covered the conflict in its full complexity.
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February 2006
Thursday, 2 February 2006
Since 2005 · From the books
The Shiite ministers return to the cabinet.
Their boycott, begun after Tueni's assassination, ended after some seven weeks.
Sources differ: Abirached's dates imply a boycott of about seven weeks; Picard's chapter speaks of several months.
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Monday, 6 February 2006
Since 2005 · From the books
Michel Aoun and Hassan Nasrallah sign their memorandum of understanding.
At the church of Mar Mikhael, on the old Chiyah–Ain al-Rummaneh demarcation line, Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah signed a memorandum of understanding covering the electoral law, Hezbollah's weapons and relations with Syria. The alliance lasted until the 2020 crisis.
Sources differ: 6 February in three sources against 5 February in the introduction to 33 jours. The church is placed 'in the southern suburb' by de Clerck & Malsagne and 'on the old demarcation line' by Mermier & Picard.
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May 2006
Wednesday, 17 May 2006
Since 2005 · From the books
UN Resolution 1680 urges Syria to delimit the border and open diplomatic relations.
Syria was strongly urged to open full diplomatic ties with Lebanon and delimit the border, chiefly where it was unclear or contested.
Sources differ: Picard's chapter in 33 jours (p. 84) dates 1680 to 2005, evidently a slip.
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Sunday, 28 May 2006
Since 2005 · From the books
Rockets on northern Israel bring the heaviest Israeli strikes since 2000.
Rockets fired at an air base near Safad, in northern Israel, brought Israel's most violent response since its 2000 withdrawal: aircraft struck the Aita al-Shaab area and hillsides by Khiam and Chakra in the border zone.
Sources differ: Abirached attributes the rockets to Hezbollah; Khayat says nobody claimed them.
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July 2006
Monday, 17 July 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
A family is killed in its home in Aitaroun.
Nine of one family, seven of them children, died in Aitaroun on 17 July when their house was blown up. Bread, fuel and water ran short for southern villagers who stayed despite Israeli leaflets ordering them out, and taxis charged a fortune for the trip to Beirut.
Sources differ: Toll: nine including seven children (34 Days); thirteen of the Awadah family including nine children (archive, 18 July 01:13); nine dead, four wounded (archive strike note, 17 July).
Reports at the time: Archive: thirteen dead of the Awadah family, nine of them children (posted 01:13 on 18 July).
The reports of that day, as they came in
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August 2006
Thursday, 17 August 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
The Lebanese army begins deploying in the South; direct war damage put at $3.6 billion.
The Lebanese army began moving into the South, about 10,000 troops within days, and UNIFIL took over half of Israel's positions. The Council for Development and Reconstruction put direct damage at about $3.6 billion, nearly two thirds of it to housing and shops; a later government report cut this to $2.8 billion.
Sources differ: Damage estimates: $2.071 billion (HRC, 22 July, 111101's July 2006 archive), over $3 billion (Vignal, 14 August), $3.6 billion (CDR, 17 August), $2.8 billion (government, November), $3-5 billion for the economy (34 Days).
The reports of that day, as they came in
Other date in the books: Monday, 14 August 2006
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September 2024
