67 entries on 64 dates · the books disagree on 67
dates 1–60 of 64 next
January 1975
Tuesday, 7 January 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Presidents Assad and Frangieh meet at Chtaura.
At Chtaura, President Suleiman Frangieh received Syria's president, Hafez al-Assad, who pledged to defend Lebanon against Israeli attack. Hanf, quoting Goria, judges that Lebanon thereby lost what neutrality had gained it.
Sources differ: Ménargues gives 17 January 1975. Traboulsi's narrative chapter dates the summit to 7 January 1974, while his own chronology gives 7 January 1975. Two sources agree on 7 January 1975.
Other dates in the books: Monday, 7 January 1974, Friday, 17 January 1975
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February 1975
Thursday, 20 February 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Pierre Gemayel calls for a referendum on the armed Palestinian presence.
Kataeb leader Pierre Gemayel called for a referendum on whether Palestinian commandos should stay in Lebanon. He had already pressed the PLO to rein in its breakaway factions, and spoke of 'two governments and two armies'.
Sources differ: Traboulsi and Picard give no day.
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March 1975
Friday, 7 March 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Major events were reported in the town of Saida.
The army clashed with demonstrators protesting in favor of fishermen. Maarouf Saad, former legislator, was hit by a bullet and died from his wounds. Saida was in fire and blood. Many dead and wounded persons were reported, on the civilian as well as on the military sides. Businesses and schools shut down. Many leaders accused the Prime Minister, Rachid El Solh, of being responsible for the recent events in Saida. Nevertheless, demonstrations supporting the army were organized in Beirut.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne and Traboulsi date the Sidon fishermen's protest to 26 February 1975. The marchers opposed Protein, a fishing company whose board included Camille Chamoun; their leader, Maarouf Saad, was shot and died some days later. Clashes between the army and armed groups in Sidon and Tyre followed at the start of March: de Clerck and Malsagne give 6 soldiers and 11 civilians killed and an army pull-out from Tyre, Hanf 5 soldiers and 11 civilians. The Kataeb staged a pro-army demonstration in Beirut. Hanf puts the fishermen's protest in March, and Picard describes the Sidon marchers as Palestinian militants.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 26 February 1975
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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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October 1975
Monday, 20 October 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Battle of the Hotels begins.
The battle for Beirut's seafront hotels began. The Sunni Murabitun militia, allied with the National Movement and the PLO, fought from the Murr tower against the Kataeb in the Holiday Inn. Five months of close-quarters fighting wrecked central Beirut.
Sources differ: Traboulsi dates the launch of the battle to after Black Saturday (6 December).
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Tuesday, 21 October 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Kamal El Assad was reelected president of the Chamber by 47 votes against one. At the same time, Beirut was still under fire and the list of victims, whether kidnapped, executed, or shot by snipers or mortar shells, kept growing.
Other date in the books: Monday, 20 October 1975
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December 1975
Saturday, 20 December 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
PLA troops cross from Syria and besiege Zahleh.
Syrian guns in the Anti-Lebanon shelled Zahleh as 3,000 men of the PLA's Yarmouk Brigade, under Syrian officers, crossed the border and besieged it from 20 December: Syria was now intervening directly.
Sources differ: Tegho Bou Nassif dates the first Yarmouk infiltration near Zahleh to 30 October 1975.
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January 1976
Wednesday, 7 January 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Palestinian camps of Tell El Zaatar and Jisr El Bacha being under a blockade, 1200 armed elements attacked the region of Horsh Tabet. Pitched battles opposed Phalangist and Fedayin activists.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne date the siege of Tal al-Za'tar from 4 January 1976 to the camp's fall on 12 August. According to Hanf, Interior Minister Camille Chamoun had Internal Security Forces units join the assault.
Other date in the books: Sunday, 4 January 1976
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Tuesday, 20 January 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Damour massacre
Avenging the massacre of Karantina by Christian forces 2 days before, Palestinians and leftist Muslims attacked the Christian city of Damour, located about 20 kilometers south of Beirut, and murdered 350 civilians.
What the books addThe siege of Damour had begun on 9 January, before the fall of Karantina; the main massacre began on 20 January (Hanf, Ménargues, Fisk, de Clerck and Malsagne; Traboulsi gives 22 or 24 January). Jiyeh fell the same day. The attackers were mainly PLA, Saiqa and Fatah units, with Lebanese leftist parties. Estimates of the dead range from about 150 bodies found plus 200 missing (Fisk) and 300-584 (de Clerck and Malsagne) to about 900 (Ménargues); some 5,000 people fled by land and sea.
Art and memory- film Ziad Doueiri's The Insult (2017) recalls the Damour massacre.
- photograph The German magazine Stern published a photograph taken during the Damour massacre of January 1976.
- novel Farid and Michel Gharib's novel Damour, Man Anti (1978) tells of Damour up to the massacre.
Other dates in the books: Friday, 9 January 1976, Friday, 16 January 1976, Monday, 19 January 1976, Thursday, 22 January 1976, Saturday, 24 January 1976
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Wednesday, 21 January 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books 21-22 January
Army helicopters and boats evacuate Jiyeh but not Damour or Saadiyat.
Damour and Saadiyat, defended only by National Liberal Party militiamen, were not evacuated, while on 21 and 22 January army helicopters and boats took refugees from neighbouring Jiyeh to Jounieh.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 20 January 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Ta'labaya, near Zahleh, falls to the PLA.
Bishop Yuhanna Bassul of Zahleh's diary records the dawn fall of Ta'labaya, a Bekaa village, to a surprise assault by the Palestine Liberation Army and Yarmouk brigades, and the forced departure of its Christians.
Sources differ: Hanf (p. 210) dates a Palestinian seizure of Ta'labaya, with its people expelled, to December 1975; de Clerck and Malsagne (p. 154) record 35 killed there from that month.
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February 1976
Saturday, 7 February 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
President Frangieh and Prime Minister Karami go to Damascus.
Sleiman Frangieh and Rashid Karami travelled to Damascus, where, with President Assad, they agreed on the text of a 'Constitutional Document' to reform the distribution of power.
Sources differ: Traboulsi's chronology gives 7 February as the day Frangieh declared the Document.
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March 1976
Sunday, 21 March 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The ' Holiday Inn ' occupied by the Phalange Party fell in the hands of the Mourabitun and their allies.
According to some sources, the Phalange Party succeeded in evacuating some of its militiamen who took with them seven dead bodies, three of which were young girls. According to other sources, 65 militiamen were able to run away using an underground passage. The Holiday Inn had been subject to repeated assaults for the past ten months.
What the books addMourabitoun and Palestinian fighters, backed by Lebanese Arab Army artillery, took the 24-storey Holiday Inn after a fight waged floor by floor, day and night, from 20 to 22 March 1976 (Traboulsi dates the fall to 22 March). The Kataeb withdrew to the Fattal building near the port. The five-month Battle of the Hotels was over, and Beirut was split along the Green Line.
Art and memory- novel Rabee Jaber's novel Birds of the Holiday Inn (2011) is set around the hotel during the battles for downtown Beirut.
- photograph In November 2002 Haugbolle photographed the ruined Holiday Inn behind a huge banner of the Roman temple at Baalbek; the picture illustrates his discussion of nostalgia.
- novel George Shami's documentary novel What Is Left of the Fighting (Madha baqa min al-qital, 2003) followed young militiamen through the 1976 hotels battle.
Other dates in the books: Saturday, 20 March 1976, 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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June 1976
Monday, 7 June 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Violent combats opposed pro-Syrian formations to Palestinian Progressive militiamen in several districts of Beirut. Syrian troops entered the capital where most Palestinian Progressive forces were concentrated.
What the books addIn Beirut in early June, Hanf writes, Fatah and its allies turned on Saiqa, the PLA and the pro-Syrian parties and cleared them from the city within a few hours. Syria's regular army stayed outside the capital for now: on 7 June its troops got as far as Sofar on the Beirut-Damascus road and into Sidon, where an armoured column was wiped out. Syrian forces reached Beirut only in mid-November, within the Arab Deterrent Force.
Other date in the books: Sunday, 14 November 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Syrian troops reach Sofar and Sidon; a Syrian armoured column is destroyed in Sidon.
Palestinian fighters and Lebanese Arab Army soldiers wrecked the Syrian armour sent into the centre of Sidon and forced it back, once Syrian columns had reached Sofar, on the Beirut-Damascus road, and the city's edge. Long Syrian shelling of the camps followed.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne place the 7 June fighting at Bhamdoun; Hanf at Sofar.
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January 1977
Friday, 21 January 1977
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Lebanese Front's seminar defines Lebanon as a 'plurality of civilisations'.
Lebanese Front leaders met in seminar at the Sayyidat al-Bir convent. They discussed partition, dismissed the independence-era institutions as outdated and called Lebanon a set of 'civilisational groups'. The Front also issued constitutional reform proposals.
Sources differ: Original entry 110 dates a three-day Lebanese 'Forces' seminar at Broumana to 23 January; it may be the same meeting.
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September 1977
Tuesday, 20 September 1977
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While bombardments and fights were taking place along the border since September 16, Radio Israel announced that Israel had sent a warning to Syria, indicating that no Syrian troop movement will be tolerated in Southern Lebanon.
What the books addRobert Fisk, who reported from the area, saw Israeli tanks on Lebanese soil near Ibl al-Saqi and Israeli shelling of Christian villages such as Rachaya al-Fukhar, where Palestinian guerrillas had dug in.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 21 September 1977
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February 1978
Tuesday, 7 February 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A serious incident occurred in Fayadieh.
Lebanese Soldiers fought with elements of the Arab Strike Force. Shots were exchanged followed by heavy armaments shootings.
What the books addHistorians date the Fayadiyeh incident to 7 February (de Clerck and Malsagne), 8 February (Hanf) or 17 February (Ménargues). It began when Syrian soldiers set up a roadblock in front of the Military Academy; officer cadets, led according to de Clerck and Malsagne by Captain Samir (Sami) al-Achkar, fought back and Syrian artillery shelled the barracks. Syrian losses are given as 13 dead and 36 wounded (de Clerck and Malsagne), over 30 dead (Ménargues) or 220 dead and 30 wounded (Hanf). As fighting spread into East Beirut, about a hundred people died when Syrian guns shelled Badaro, Ain el-Remmaneh and Karm el-Zeitoun. Sarkis and Damascus settled the affair with a joint Lebanese-Syrian military court. De Clerck and Malsagne date the Syria-Christian split to it.
Other dates in the books: Wednesday, 8 February 1978, Friday, 17 February 1978
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March 1978
Tuesday, 21 March 1978
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Israel announces a ceasefire in the south; Operation Litani ends.
Fisk puts the cost of Operation Litani at as many as 2,000 Lebanese and Palestinian dead and 20 Israelis. On 21 March, its last day, Israel announced a ceasefire, but its guns shelled Tyre from nine that morning; it held the south up to the Litani except the Tyre pocket.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 14 March 1978
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October 1978
Saturday, 7 October 1978
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Syrian shelling of East Beirut stops; Sarkis asks for the ADF mandate to be extended.
Syria stopped shelling East Beirut on 7 October, one day after the UN Security Council demanded a ceasefire. Also on 7 October, President Sarkis publicly asked for the Arab Deterrent Force's mandate to be extended beyond its expiry on 28 October. Syria kept its blockade in place until the Arab League had renewed the mandate.
Sources differ: Original entry 219 puts the Security Council's ceasefire call on 4 October; entry 220 has residents leaving the shelters on 8 October.
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January 1980
Monday, 21 January 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese army projected to deploy in South Lebanon while Israel was strongly opposed to this project.
What the books addDeploying the army, Sarkis insisted on his return from an Arab meeting at Ta'if in February 1980, should come before political reform (Traboulsi). Amal and the Phalange newspaper al-Amal also called for the army to be sent south (Traboulsi; Hanf).
Other date in the books: Thursday, 20 March 1980
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July 1980
Monday, 7 July 1980
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Bashir Gemayel's forces crush Chamoun's Tigers; the Christian militias are unified as the Lebanese Forces.
Bashir Gemayel's forces struck at dawn at the offices and barracks of the National Liberal Party's Tigers militia across the Christian region, including the Safra Marine resort north of Jounieh, where Dany Chamoun narrowly escaped. By evening Bashir had called Phalange and National Liberal leaders to the church of Saint Anthony in Sodeco; with Camille Chamoun chairing, he proposed folding the militias into a Lebanese Forces he would lead. Estimates of the dead run from about 70 to several hundred, many of them civilians.
Sources differ: Stored entry 375 dates the assault to 8 July. Death tolls: about 70 dead and 100 wounded (Ménargues); about 100 Tigers (Hanf); about 150 including 83 Tigers (de Clerck and Malsagne); 150 to 200, mostly civilians (Traboulsi); several hundred civilians (Fisk).
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November 1980
Thursday, 20 November 1980
The Lebanese war · Added from the books about 20 November (range 20-28 November)
The Lebanese Forces storm the last Tiger stronghold in Ain el-Remmaneh (Ménargues's dating).
In Ménargues's account Ain el-Remmaneh, long a National Liberal district, sheltered those who refused Bashir Gemayel's authority, under Elias Hannouche ('Hannache'). About ten days after the two car bombs of 10 November, Bashir sent in his elite units. Hannouche and many of his men slipped across the demarcation line into Syrian-protected West Beirut, and the LF secured the district only after 48 hours of fighting. Afterwards a single LF insignia replaced the militia badges on every unit's uniform, on Bashir's orders.
Sources differ: Entries 403-405 end the Ain el-Remmaneh fighting in late October; de Clerck and Malsagne have LF control of East Beirut on 31 October; Hanf, about three months after 7 July.
Other date in the books: Friday, 28 November 1980
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December 1980
Saturday, 20 December 1980
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Elias Hannouche's men seize the National Liberal office in Zahle; fighting with Syrian troops.
Rocket, mortar and heavy machine-gun fire swept central Zahle until about 11 p.m., when Syrian troops and Elias Hannouche's men withdrew. Under Syrian protection, Hannouche had seized the former National Liberal Party office early that morning with some forty men; local Lebanese Forces failed to dislodge them, Syrian soldiers intervened, and an LF fighter was killed.
Sources differ: Hanf gives November and December without a day.
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Sunday, 21 December 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The situation worsened in Zahleh under heavy bombardments. These confrontations between Zahliotes and soldiers from the Arab Strike Force continued until December 26 when a cease-fire eased the tension.
What the books addThe crisis began on 20 December when Elias Hannouche, a former Tiger commander backed by Syria, seized the old National Liberal office in Zahle. After an ambush inside the town killed five Syrian soldiers on 22 December, Syrian artillery opened fire on it (Ménargues; Hanf counts an officer and five soldiers). De Clerck and Malsagne date the bombardment to 21 December and call it the first round of the battle of Zahle. Most of the former Tigers then joined the Lebanese Forces, and Syrian troops stayed positioned around the town until the siege of spring 1981.
Other dates in the books: Saturday, 20 December 1980, Monday, 22 December 1980
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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, 20 July 1981
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Iraq opens a channel to the Lebanese Forces.
Iraq, fighting Syria's ally Iran, provided aid after a pro-Iraqi Baathist lawyer, Gebran Majdalani, offered Bashir Gemayel direct ties with Baghdad. LF envoys met Tariq Aziz in Paris in mid-August and went to Baghdad in December.
Sources differ: Ménargues says the Lebanese Forces refused Iraqi money; Traboulsi says Iraq gave money as well as arms.
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Tuesday, 21 July 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While the bombardment continued in South Lebanon, the Security Council ordered a cease-fire; but the latter wasn't observed despite the presence of the US envoy Philip Habib in the region.
What the books addMénargues dates to 22 July Reagan's indefinite freeze on F-16 deliveries to Israel and a unanimous Security Council call for an immediate cease-fire, which Arafat accepted at once.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 22 July 1981
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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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April 1982
Wednesday, 21 April 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Six successive raids were reported within 90 minutes against Aramoun, Naameh and Damour, putting an end to a cease-fire that lasted 9 months. This new aggression claimed the lives of 80 victims.
What the books addFisk, on the coast road when it began, dates the Damour raid to 22 April: Israeli jets struck for over two hours, killing at least 19 Palestinians; Israel cited the death of a soldier on a mine in the south. For Fisk it previewed the invasion.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 22 April 1982
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June 1982
Sunday, 20 June 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A Public Salvation Committee was constituted. It included: Bechjr Gemayel, Walid Joumblatt, Nabih Berry, Nasri Maalouf, Chafic Wazzan, and Fouad Boutros. Walid Joumblatt resigned from office a few days later.
What the books addMénargues and Fisk date the decision to form the committee to 14 June; Traboulsi has it convening on 20 June. Philip Habib attended its sessions of 22 and 23 June. Its agenda, Traboulsi notes, dealt with the PLO's withdrawal, not the Israeli occupation; Jumblatt quit the committee and the cabinet rather than 'deal the final blow to the Palestinians', and Berri stopped taking part.
Other dates in the books: Monday, 14 June 1982, Tuesday, 22 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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Saturday, 7 August 1982
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The PLO approves the final version of the Habib plan for its evacuation.
On 6 August Habib told Sharon a 'package deal' could be wrapped up in 48 hours: the French would go ashore the morning the Palestinians began leaving, the other contingents after. The PLO accepted on 7 August; Israel on 16 August (Menargues) or 19 August (de Clerck and Malsagne).
Sources differ: Israel's approval: 16 August (Ménargues, extraordinary cabinet) or 19 August (de Clerck and Malsagne).
Other date in the books: Friday, 6 August 1982
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September 1982
Tuesday, 7 September 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
According to a United Nations report, between the 6th of June 1982 and the 15th of August 1982, 6,775 persons had been killed and 30,000 others wounded. Over 80% of these victims were civilians form West Beirut. According to the same source, 2,094 seriously injured persons had been burned by phosphor bombs.
What the books addFigures differ by source and cut-off date. De Clerck and Malsagne cite a Lebanese police report of November 1982 covering 4 June to 21 August: 19,085 dead, 6,775 of them in Beirut and 84% of them civilians, and 30,302 wounded. Ménargues, citing police reports, gives 17,825 dead and 30,103 wounded from 4 June; Fisk gives almost 17,825 dead from 4 June to the end of September. Picard cites UNICEF: 29,506 dead and wounded between 4 June and 15 August, 80% of them civilians in Beirut and its suburbs. The 6,775 dead in the original therefore appear to be Beirut's share only.
Other date in the books: Friday, 4 June 1982
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November 1982
Saturday, 20 November 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese Forces and the Progressive Socialist Party militiamen started a merciless war in the cazas of Aley and the Chouf.
What the books addOn 8 November 1982 PSP men attacked a Christian funeral in Kfar Nabrakh, a mixed Chouf village, killing eleven, in reaction to a Lebanese Forces checkpoint set up nearby. Some twenty houses were burned and nine villagers abducted; their bodies were found in a well on 23 November. De Clerck and Malsagne call it the Mountain War's first massacre.
Other dates in the books: Monday, 8 November 1982, Tuesday, 23 November 1982
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February 1983
Monday, 7 February 1983
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Israel's Kahan Commission publishes its report on Sabra and Chatila.
Israel's inquiry into the September 1982 massacre blamed the Phalangists above all, finding its own political and military leaders indirectly responsible; Ariel Sharon lost the Defence Ministry.
Sources differ: Fisk quotes the finding as Sharon's 'personal responsibility'; Traboulsi and de Clerck and Malsagne call it indirect responsibility. Fisk also criticises the report for treating the massacre as 'events'.
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March 1983
Monday, 7 March 1983
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The State regained control over the fifth basin of the port.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne date the Lebanese Forces' return of the fifth basin to the state to 1 March 1983. Until then its customs receipts, put at 5 million dollars a month, supplied 20% of the militia's revenue. The army held it until 1985, when Samir Geagea took it back.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 1 March 1983
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July 1983
Wednesday, 20 July 1983
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Israel announces it will pull back from the Chouf and Aley.
With Gemayel in Washington, Israel announced an early pull-back from the mountains above Beirut, dismaying Western ambassadors; Fisk explains that the army, and the multinational force with it, would be drawn into the Druze-Christian war.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne say Arens announced a withdrawal for 15 September, without dating the announcement.
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August 1983
Sunday, 21 August 1983
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The first signs of an imminent Israeli redeployment in the south of the Awali river multiplied. Lebanon urged the United States to intervene in order to delay this initiative.
What the books addIsrael announced the pullback on 20 July. On 16 August Moshe Arens told Gemayel in East Beirut that Israel would leave the mountains even if the fighting had not stopped, and he announced a withdrawal for 15 September. According to de Clerck and Malsagne, the United States tried without success to dissuade Israel.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 16 August 1983
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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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Tuesday, 7 February 1984
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Beirut is divided again; Washington announces the Marines' 'redeployment' to the ships.
Beirut was split along the Green Line again on 7 February as the last regular troops in West Beirut, mostly Christians, pulled back east; Hanf notes that the Lebanese had never before divided their capital themselves. Washington said that day the Marines would 'redeploy' to ships offshore.
Sources differ: Hanf treats 7 February as the date of the army's collapse; de Clerck and Malsagne and the original (733) use 6 February.
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May 1985
Monday, 20 May 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
After 20 hours of ferocious combats, Amal and the sixth brigade took control of the Palestinian camps.
What the books addAmal, with the army's mainly Shia Sixth Brigade, attacked Sabra, Chatila and Bourj al-Barajneh on 19 or 20 May. Bourj al-Barajneh held out under siege, Chatila's defenders kept a small area, and Sabra was overrun and razed. Hanf reports massacres when Sabra and Chatila fell, with estimates of 800 to 2,000 Palestinians killed by Shia militiamen in 1985.
Art and memory- novel Hanan al-Shaykh placed her 1992 novel Beirut Blues (Barid Bayrut) in the War of the Camps, during the summer of 1985.
Other dates in the books: Sunday, 19 May 1985, Wednesday, 22 May 1985
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September 1985
Saturday, 7 September 1985
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Syrian troops enter Zahleh.
After the withdrawal of the Lebanese Forces, Syrian troops entered Zahleh to restore order.
Other date in the books: Sunday, 11 August 1985
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November 1985
Wednesday, 20 November 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Violent combats opposed Amal and the PSP in West Beirut. Five days of hell followed for the residents of this region. 65 persons were killed and 250 were wounded.
What the books addHanf's 'Flag War': on 21 November alone, Shi'i and Druze fighters fought with tanks and artillery, leaving 65 dead and over 400 abducted. PSP militiamen had replaced the national flags Sixth Brigade soldiers put on public buildings for Independence Day with their party banner.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 21 November 1985
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October 1986
Tuesday, 21 October 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Hussein Husseini was reelected Speaker of the National Assembly. A seventh US national, Edward Tracy was kidnapped in West Beirut.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 9 September 1986
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January 1988
Wednesday, 20 January 1988
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The camps war, that lasted three years, seems to come close to an end with the deployment of the Syrian army and the Lebanese Army sixth brigade, replacing Amal around Chatila and Bourj-Brajneh.
What the books addHanf (p. 315) dates the lifting of Amal's blockade of the camps to 18 January 1988. The sources disagree on when the war of the camps ended: September 1987 (Picard's chronology), January 1988 (Picard, Hanf, de Clerck) or late 1988 (Hanf, p. 304).
Other dates in the books: Friday, 11 September 1987, Monday, 18 January 1988
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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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May 1990
Monday, 21 May 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
A Vatican-mediated ceasefire between the army and the Lebanese Forces takes effect.
A Vatican-mediated ceasefire took effect between Aoun's army and the Lebanese Forces. Mutual exhaustion held it; their hatred did not abate, and the Christian enclave stayed divided between them through the summer.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date the truce to 26 May. Accounts of when the war ended differ: March (Quéméner), May (Traboulsi, Fisk), July (Picard).
Other date in the books: Saturday, 26 May 1990
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August 1990
Tuesday, 21 August 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The second Lebanese Republic was born and the National Assembly approved with a majority of 48 deputies the constitutional reforms included in the Taef agreement. However, General Aoun continued to contest the legality of the Chamber.
What the books addSources disagree on the dates. Hanf dates the parliamentary vote (48 for, 1 against, 2 abstentions out of 51 deputies) to 26 August 1990 and its promulgation by President Hrawi to 21 September 1990. De Clerck and Malsagne, and Picard, give 21 September as the date the constitutional law was adopted. Haugbolle says parliament approved the Taif Agreement in August 1990. Traboulsi's postscript gives '21 September' but places it in 1991, probably by mistake. The vote started the Taif timetable: six months to disband the militias, and two years before Syrian troops withdrew to the Bekaa. Aoun called it a comedy, arguing that parliament had been dissolved.
Other dates in the books: Sunday, 26 August 1990, Friday, 21 September 1990
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September 1990
Friday, 21 September 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
President Hrawi promulgates the amended Constitution of the Second Republic.
Hrawi promulgated the revised Constitution, with the Taif reforms written in, and announced on air that it would found the Second Republic. Three ex-army commanders then urged Aoun's soldiers to accept General Lahoud's authority; some officers did.
Sources differ: Hanf calls 21 September the promulgation, after a vote on 26 August; de Clerck and Malsagne and Picard call it the adoption. Entry 1204 dates the vote to 21 August.
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October 1990
Sunday, 21 October 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The leader of the National Liberal Party, Dany Chamoun, his wife Ingrid and his two kids Tarek and Julian were savagely assassinated in there home in Baabda.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne count the murder of Dany Chamoun, his wife and two of their children as the last act of violence between Christian factions. The place is given as Baabda (Confluences) or 'his east Beirut home' (Fisk). Chamoun had backed Aoun, though critically, and was opposed to Syria's presence. Hanf notes that many blamed Syria, but judges that killing a whole family suggests a militia vendetta; Fisk likens it to the Phalangists' earlier killing of Tony Frangieh, his wife and baby. Samir Geagea was later tried for the murder (Picard).
Other date in the books: Saturday, 13 October 1990
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March 1991
Wednesday, 20 March 1991
After the war · From the books
The cabinet sets the end of April as the deadline for dissolving all militias.
Except for Hezbollah and the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army, militias had a month under a 20 March cabinet decision to surrender their arms to the army and wind up their intelligence services; 'the brotherly Syrian army' could enforce it.
Sources differ: Three dates: 20 March cabinet decision (Hanf, Picard 2002), 23 March vote in parliament (Picard 2016), 28 March ministerial declaration (Picard 2002). They may be successive steps of the same process.
Other dates in the books: Saturday, 23 March 1991, Thursday, 28 March 1991
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September 2004
Tuesday, 7 September 2004
After the war · From the books
Four ministers, including Marwan Hamadeh, resign in protest.
Sources differ: Hamadeh is called economy minister (Abirached) or health minister (Khayat).
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October 2004
Wednesday, 20 October 2004
After the war · From the books
Rafiq Hariri's resignation takes effect.
He then moved openly towards the anti-Syrian opposition.
Sources differ: Presented 3 October (Khayat), effective 20 October (Abirached).
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May 2005
Saturday, 7 May 2005
Since 2005 · From the books
General Michel Aoun returns from fifteen years of exile in France.
Back in Beirut, the Free Patriotic Movement leader told supporters on Freedom Square that his fellow opposition leaders were sectarian. He later came to terms with Hezbollah and joined forces with one-time pro-Syrian politicians.
Sources differ: 7 May (Quéméner) or 8 May (Abirached). Each date has one source; the others give only 'May' or 'a few days after' the withdrawal.
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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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July 2006
Thursday, 20 July 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
Battle of Maroun al-Ras.
Egoz lost a company commander and four men on 20 July in its first clash at Maroun al-Ras, sent in by daylight to back paratroopers who had entered at dawn; the battle lasted two more days.
Sources differ: Israeli dead: five (34 Days) against four among eight dead (Abirached).
Reports at the time: The archive reports four Israeli soldiers killed that evening; a fifth is identified only on 23 July, the day Hezbollah acknowledged the Israeli entry.
The reports of that day, as they came in
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
Nasrallah tells Al-Jazeera Hezbollah is intact.
Interviewed on Al-Jazeera, Nasrallah denied taking instructions from Iran or Syria and said Israel had seized on the capture to start a war planned long before. Hezbollah, he claimed, had lost none of its leaders or military strength; victory meant the resistance surviving.
Sources differ: 20 July (Abirached) against 21 July (34 Days).
Reports at the time: The archive reports the interview at 23:10 on 20 July, so 34 Days' date probably reflects its broadcast or reporting the next day.
The reports of that day, as they came in
Other date in the books: Friday, 21 July 2006
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