193 entries on 172 dates · the books disagree on 40
dates 1–60 of 172 next
May 1969
Tuesday, 6 May 1969
The road to war · From the books
On television, President Helou sets Lebanese sovereignty as the limit of support for the Palestinians.
Lebanon was left without a cabinet for months after 6 May, when President Charles Helou said on television that backing the Palestinian cause must not put Lebanon's sovereignty and security at risk. He and the army had open support only from Christian politicians; no leading Sunni would take office.
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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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October 1973
Saturday, 6 October 1973
The road to war · From the books range (6–25 October 1973)
Israel wrecks the Barouk radar in the October War; Lebanon stays out.
During the October War Israel destroyed the Mount Barouk radar Lebanon had lent Syria, and its jets crossed the Bekaa to strike Damascus, though Lebanon took no part. In Zahle the bishop and residents sent relief to Damascus for the Syrian army and nursed wounded soldiers at Tal Chiha hospital.
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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
Monday, 6 January 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The army launched an attack in Tripoli
The army succeeded, after a tense day of occasional shootings, to invest and control the old town of Tripoli where many outlaws have been hiding for the past 6 months. Two civilians died, 12 were wounded, and 75 persons were arrested.
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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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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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Wednesday, 9 July 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Zahleh's bishop approves arming the town.
Arms for Zahleh's young fighters got Bishop Yuhanna Bassul's go-ahead at a meeting with the Tajammu and Elias Hraoui, deputy and minister. The author sees him thereafter as the town's main decision-maker, backed by notables like Skaf and Hraoui.
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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
Saturday, 6 December 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The assassination of four young Phalangists on the Fanar road provoked horrible killings in the streets of Beirut.
The capital was rapidly set ablaze. It was the apocalypse. Militias launched street fights resulting in tens of innocent victims. Violence was at its peek and nothing seemed to end this thirst for blood.
What the books addThe bodies of four young Kataeb members were found on 6 December 1975, while Pierre Gemayel was in Damascus; Muslims seized at makeshift checkpoints by the port were killed in reprisal. Accounts place the bodies in the Metn (Hanf), near Tal al-Za'tar (Haugbolle) or outside the electricity company offices (Fisk). De Clerck and Malsagne blame Joseph Saadeh, whose son was among the four. Only Fisk puts Bashir Gemayel in Damascus and cites Phalangist officers saying he ordered the reprisal. The Muslim dead number about 200 (Hanf, Traboulsi, de Clerck and Malsagne) or several dozen (Picard); Fisk gives at least 300 Muslims, and probably as many Christians, in the reprisals.
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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January 1976
Friday, 9 January 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The siege of Damour begins.
The Red Cross could not reach Damour to evacuate its wounded, and water, power and supplies were cut: Palestinian and leftist forces besieged the mainly Maronite coastal town of some 20,000 south of Beirut.
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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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Friday, 9 April 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Parliament amends the constitution to allow an early presidential election.
With Syria enforcing a truce, deputies changed Article 73 of the constitution so that Frangieh's successor could be elected up to six months before his term ended, not two.
Sources differ: Hanf gives 9 April, Yara El Khoury 10 April.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 10 April 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Syrian forces enter the Bekaa; Saiqa moves to relieve besieged Zahleh.
Syrian army tanks appeared at Anjar, Judaydat Yabus and Bayadir al-Adas, inside Lebanon, while Saiqa fighters came in and began to relieve besieged Zahleh. When Jumblatt asked, Dean Brown said the Syrians were clearing roads.
Sources differ: The original entry 62 dates the Syrian entry into the Bekaa to 10 April.
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May 1976
Thursday, 6 May 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Jocelyne Khoueiry and six young women defend a building in Beirut.
Jocelyne Khoueiry and six other young women defended a building against 300 Palestinian fighters.
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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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Wednesday, 9 June 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Arab League decides to send an Arab peace force.
Meeting in Cairo, the Arab League Council appealed for a ceasefire and voted to deploy an Arab peace force. That day an official Tass statement openly condemned Syria's intervention.
Sources differ: Traboulsi and Picard's Liban-Syrie call this force the ADF; Hanf distinguishes it from the Arab Deterrent Force created at Riyadh in October.
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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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November 1976
Tuesday, 9 November 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
President Elias Sarkis appointed Colonel Ahmad Hajj commander of the Arab Strike Force.
What the books addMénargues names only Sami al-Khatib. Traboulsi confirms that the Arab Deterrent Force's first Lebanese commander was Ahmad al-Hajj, who did not gain Syria's favour and was quickly replaced by al-Khatib.
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Phase 1of the peace plan assigned to the Arab Strike Force takes effect tonight.
The 'Green Helmets' began their deployment at midnight and headed towards the mountain on four simultaneous axes. This positioning was difficult due to the blind bombings of the residential districts of Beirut.
What the books addFisk: Kahhaleh showed white flags and Hazmiyeh's Christians threw rice and rose water at the crews as at least 20 miles of Syrian tanks, guns and troop carriers came down on Beirut from dawn on 10 November.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 10 November 1976
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December 1976
Thursday, 9 December 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
President Sarkis asked Salim El Hoss to form the Government.
The new Cabinet included: Salim El Hoss: Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Trade, Industry and Oil, and Information. Fouad Boutros: Vice-President of the Council, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, and National Defense. Salah Salman: Minister of Interior, and Housing and Cooperatives. Ibrahim Cheaito: Minister of Health and Hydraulic and Electric Resources. Amine Bizri: Minister of Public Works, Transportation, and Tourism. Michel Doumit: Minister of Plan Assaad Risk: Minster of Social Affairs, National Education and Fine Arts, and Agriculture. Farid Raphael: Minister of Justice, Finance, and Posts and Telecommunications.
What the books addIts members were technocrats and businessmen; the one politician, Fouad Boutros, held both foreign affairs and defence (Traboulsi). Early on, at Syria's behest, it brought in press censorship (Hanf, Fisk); Traboulsi also mentions an order for militias to surrender their arms.
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January 1977
August 1977
October 1977
Sunday, 9 October 1977
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Charbel Makhlouf was proclaimed Saint of the Catholic Church during a moving religious ceremony that Pope Paul VI presided in the Saint Paul Basilica in the Vatican. Thousands of people attended the ceremony, including some miraculous Lebanese. It was a touching moment for the whole Christian community in Lebanon. The Lebanese Maronite delegation carried gifts to the Saint: markouk bred, wine, fruits from the Kesrouan, a partridge and a cedar. The hermit of Annaya became the first Orient Saint canonized by Rome.
What the books addOnce canonised, Saint Charbel stood for 'Maronite identity' and for the protection of a predominantly Christian Lebanon.
Art and memory- memorial Canonised in 1977, Saint Charbel turned into an emblem of 'Maronite identity' and of Christian Lebanon's protection.
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November 1977
Wednesday, 9 November 1977
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Israel launched an assault in the South. An air and sea Israeli bombing of Lebanese towns and Palestinian camps claimed the lives of 110 civilians. The town of Ezzieh was razed.
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January 1978
Friday, 6 January 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Begin Plan concerning the settlement of Palestinians in Lebanon made some noise.
The Lebanese reacted with firmness and indignation to the conspiracy initiated by foreign countries. According to Salim El Hoss, 'Every project expecting the settlement of Palestinians outside of their land is rejected.' The President of the Republic also rejected any project stipulating the permanent settlement of Palestinians in Lebanon. 'Our country should determine itself what it is able to offer. It is unfair to solve the Palestinian question by creating a Lebanese problem. We will make every effort to let our right prevail', he said.
What the books addHanf notes that in December 1977 Menachem Begin, Israel's prime minister, had excluded any return of the Palestinian refugees in neighbouring countries.
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February 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, 6 June 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese Front stiffened its position.
It considered that the Palestinian Resistance did not have its place in Lebanon anymore. The Front proclaimed that all the agreements with the PLO were null and void. The Front hoped that the Lebanese army replaces the primarily Syrian Arab Strike Force. President Sarkis was determined to dispatch the army to the South.
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July 1978
January 1979
February 1979
April 1979
May 1979
Sunday, 6 May 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Israeli aviation, aiming at a Palestinian target, killed five innocents and injured 15 others in a wedding ceremony in the Akkar. All the victims were Lebanese with, among them, several kids.
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Wednesday, 9 May 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
President Elias Sarkis urged the United Nations and the Arabs to assume their responsibilities. The chief of the State violently condemned the repeated Israeli aggressions against Lebanon qualifying them of flagrant challenge to human principles.
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June 1979
July 1979
August 1979
October 1979
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, 9 February 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Bahige Takieddine, Minister of Interior and Tourism, and deputy of the Chouf, died from a heart attack.
The Presidency of the Republic ordered national funerals and three days of mourning. Bahige Takieddine was born in 1909 in Baakline in the Chouf. He studied at the French Lycée then went to the Law School at Saint Joseph University. He was minister several times since 1974.
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March 1980
Thursday, 6 March 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Units from the Arab Strike Force positioned in the Sin el Fil- Dekouaneh-Mekalles region started to gather in order to withdraw towards Jamhour-Aley. The total withdrawal should be executed by Saturday night and the Lebanese army would replace the Syrian soldiers.
What the books addHanf: clashes among the Christian militias grew more frequent after the partial Syrian withdrawal, which removed Syrian checkpoints on the roads into East Beirut and between Achrafieh and the Christian suburbs and gave the militias one unbroken territory for the first time since 1976.
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April 1980
Wednesday, 9 April 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Council of Ministers raised the wages in the private sector by 29%. The ceiling of the raise was fixed at 625 Lebanese Pound, while the floor of the raise was fixed at 150 Lebanese pounds. The minimum salary increased therefore from 525 to 675 Lebanese Pounds.
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May 1980
June 1980
Friday, 6 June 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Selim el Hoss resigned from office. President Sarkis accepted his resignation on June 16.
What the books addMénargues dates the resignation to March 1980, after repeated deadlock between Hoss and Sarkis over the army; Hoss stayed on as caretaker until Shafiq Wazzan's appointment in late October.
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July 1980
Sunday, 6 July 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Violent confrontations opposed in Ain Mreisse the Mourabitoun and the Arab Socialist Union. 3 persons died and 16 others were wounded.
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Pierre Gemayel and Camille Chamoun propose merging their parties.
On Sunday 6 July 1980 Pierre Gemayel and Camille Chamoun, unable to stop their militias fighting, proposed merging the Kataeb and the National Liberal Party at an afternoon meeting at Gemayel's Bikfaya home. Bashir attacked at dawn next day.
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August 1980
Saturday, 9 August 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
President Takieddine Solh announced that he will suspend his efforts to form a new Cabinet. 'It is still not possible to put together a government of active forces,' he said.
What the books addMénargues attributes Solh's failure to a Syrian veto.
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November 1980
December 1980
Tuesday, 9 December 1980
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Michel Aoun is proposed for the Beirut front-line command.
Seeking closer militia–army cooperation, Zahi Boustani proposed Lieutenant-Colonel Michel Aoun to Johnny Abdo to command the sector along Beirut's demarcation line, from the port to Kfarchima. Abdo, who rated Aoun poorly, said a formal appointment must wait until mid-January and the return of the army commander, whose signature was required.
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January 1981
Friday, 9 January 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A new phase of the war started in Lebanon: the war of televisions. The 'Lebanese Forces' wanted to broadcast under the name 'Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation' and the Mourabitun seemed to be willing to give them hard time. As a result, they both emitted on the same channel and thus jammed the image.
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March 1981
April 1981
Thursday, 2 April 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese will remember this date for long time. Violence brought back to Beirut the darkest experiences of 1975-1976. Blind bombardments targeted the Eastern and Western sectors of the capital. Thousands of students were trapped in their schools and the population panicked. There were heavy casualties: 50 persons died and more than 200 were wounded.
What the books addHistorians date the battle of Zahleh from this day, when Lebanese Forces fighters beat off a Syrian attack on the town and a siege of some 90 days began. Ménargues says Syrian heavy guns killed 50 and wounded over 200 that day in Zahleh and the Christian zone north of Beirut.
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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Monday, 6 April 1981
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Haig condemns the Syrian shelling of Zahleh.
Zahleh was heavily shelled from dawn. That morning in Riyadh, Secretary of State Alexander Haig blamed Moscow for sponsoring the Syrian bombardment, which he severely condemned.
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Thursday, 9 April 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
For the first time in Zahleh since the beginning of the confrontations, the Red Cross was able to evacuate 19 persons seriously injured.
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
US envoy Morris Draper in Beirut.
State Department envoy Morris Draper saw President Sarkis and Prime Minister Wazzan, then Bashir Gemayel, whom he told that the militias must leave Zahleh; he asked whether Bashir would accept the Lebanese Army there.
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dates 1–60 of 172 next
