75 entries on 73 dates · the books disagree on 75
dates 1–60 of 73 next
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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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
Saturday, 8 March 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Assad calls for a joint Syrian-Palestinian command.
Assad publicly called for Syria and the Palestinians to unite their political and military leadership. Hanf relates Syria's acceptance of Arafat's proposal for a joint supreme command to Egypt's drift towards a separate arrangement with Israel.
Sources differ: Ménargues says the PLO met the call with silence; Hanf says Syria accepted an offer from Arafat.
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June 1975
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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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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December 1975
Monday, 8 December 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Murabitun overrun Kataeb positions in the hotels.
On 8 December the Kataeb lost the Phoenicia and St Georges and were pushed back to Martyrs' Square by a Murabitun offensive, backed by Palestinian groups, on their downtown and hotel-district positions. According to Traboulsi, an army move on 9 December to retake the two hotels brought the Palestinian organisations more directly into the fighting.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 9 December 1975
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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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Monday, 22 December 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Thousands of armed elements attempted to invade Zahleh
The army riposted and hundreds of shells, mortars and rockets, fell on the Town. Simultaneously, bloody fights were reported in Tripoli.
What the books addBishop Yuhanna Bassul's diary records 500 shells hitting Zahleh on the night of 22 December, with some 15,000 fedayeen gathered in the plain; at his appeal the army's Maghawir commando regiment came to help. Hanf writes that 3,000 men of the PLA's Yarmouk Brigade had entered from Syria on 20 December and besieged the town, which Syrian positions also shelled.
Art and memory- testimony Bishop Yuhanna Bassul of Zahleh kept a regular, detailed diary of the 1975-1976 war, issued by the Greek Catholic diocese in two volumes; most dated Zahleh events here come from it.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 20 December 1975
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January 1976
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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Thursday, 22 January 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While the Palestine Liberation Army controlled the Akkar and the Bekaa with the exception of Zahleh, a cease-fire was concluded under the aegis of Syria.
What the books addTraboulsi, de Clerck and Malsagne, and Yara El Khoury date the Syrian-mediated cease-fire to 23 January. PLA and Saiqa units attacked Zgharta in the north but were repulsed, and Zahleh, besieged, held out.
Other date in the books: Friday, 23 January 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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September 1976
Wednesday, 22 September 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Bechir Gemayel announced the creation of an army to defend Lebanon.
What the books addMénargues dates the formal unification of the Christian militias under Bashir Gemayel's command to 31 August 1976; Yara El Khoury has it announced to President Frangieh in early September 1976. According to de Clerck and Malsagne, 'Lebanese Forces' was not the official name until 1981, but the unified command was officially founded on 25 March 1976.
Other dates in the books: Thursday, 25 March 1976, Tuesday, 31 August 1976
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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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January 1978
Sunday, 22 January 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese Front adopted a coexistence formula.
Leaders of the Lebanese Front, gathered at President Frangieh's home in Zghorta since the day before, inaugurated their seminar which main themes were the national understanding, the project of Palestinians settlement in Lebanon, and the internal organization of the Front itself. Their final press release made it clear that the Palestinian presence constituted an obstacle to the national understanding and that Lebanon rejected any kind of union.
Other date in the books: Friday, 21 January 1977
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February 1978
Wednesday, 8 February 1978
The Lebanese war · Added from the books range (about 8-14 February)
Fighting spreads from Fayadiyeh to East Beirut.
About a hundred people died when Syrian guns hit Badaro, Ain el-Remmaneh and Karm el-Zeitoun, as the Fayadiyeh clash spread the next day to Beirut's Christian districts. National Liberal Party and Kataeb fighters attacked Syrian positions; Syrian troops in Achrafieh's Rizk Tower shelled the eastern suburbs, and artillery struck the army headquarters at Yarze.
Sources differ: Depends on the date of the Fayadiyeh clash: 7 February (de Clerck and Malsagne), 8 February (Hanf) or 17 February (Ménargues). Duration three days (de Clerck and Malsagne) or about a week (Hanf).
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March 1978
Wednesday, 22 March 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The first ' Blue Helmets ' arrived to the South.
What the books addFisk dates the arrival in Tyre of UNIFIL's first unit, Colonel Jean Germain Salvan's French paratroopers, to 23 March. That morning, at the nearby Hassan Borro barracks, Palestinians and Lebanese officers nearly opened fire over the handover.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 23 March 1978
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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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October 1978
Sunday, 8 October 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Residents of Achrafieh stepped out of their shelters only to realize the magnitude of the damages. Despite the respect of the cease-fire agreed upon by Presidents Elias Sarkis and Hafez Assad, the region was still under blockade.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne date the end of the shelling to 7 October. On that day President Sarkis asked in public for the Arab Deterrent Force's mandate, due to lapse on 28 October, to be extended, and Syria maintained its blockade until the renewal.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 7 October 1978
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April 1979
Sunday, 22 April 1979
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Attack on Nahariya; Israeli officers set up a secret bombing front in Lebanon.
Senior Israeli officers answered a Palestinian raid on Nahariya, in northern Israel, by creating the 'Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners', manned by Lebanese of several communities. Up to 1983 its bombs killed hundreds of Lebanese and Palestinians, civilians and fighters alike. Prime Minister Begin was told of it only in June 1980.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne attribute the Nahariya attack to the PFLP.
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September 1979
Saturday, 22 September 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
President Elias Sarkis delivered an important speech, in which he emphasized the overriding role the army should play. Without it 'the State will be a body with no soul', he said. He insisted that the Arabs should stop to shilly-shally about Southern Lebanon.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 13 March 1979
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July 1980
Tuesday, 8 July 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Phalangist militiamen launched an assault against all the NLP's offices and barracks in Achrafieh, on the coast, in Jbeil, in the Kesrouan, and in the Metn. The most murderous combats took place in Acharfieh, Amchit, and especially Safra where the domicile of the NLP defense secretary, Dany Chamoun, was burned. Chamoun's daughter was injured. He flew to Fakra and announced his resignation. The Phalangists continued their attack and reached Fakra where they dynamited Chamoun's home. He flew again to Baskinta. He went back later to Yarze on board of an army helicopter, along with Amine Gemayel. The Phalange Party controlled therefore all NLP's offices and barracks.
What the books addHistorians date the assault to 7 July 1980 (Ménargues, de Clerck and Malsagne, Hanf, Traboulsi, Picard). At dawn Bashir Gemayel's units struck National Liberal offices and barracks throughout the Christian region, the Safra Marine resort north of Jounieh among them, under strict orders to spare Camille and Dany Chamoun and their families. That evening he proposed merging the militias into the Lebanese Forces under his command; Dany Chamoun left for exile the next day. Estimates of the dead range from about 70 (Ménargues) to 150-200, mostly civilians (Traboulsi; de Clerck and Malsagne give about 150, including 83 Tigers). Ménargues says Bashir code-named the operation 'Altalena'.
Other date in the books: Monday, 7 July 1980
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October 1980
Wednesday, 22 October 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Chafic Wazzan was asked to form a new government, while Israel launched an air strike againt Damour. The aerial Traffic at the Beirut International Airport was interrupted.
What the books addIn Ménargues's account the appointment came on 25 October, after Damascus had vetoed Takieddine Solh and put up three candidates including Hoss; by picking none of them Sarkis disregarded Syrian advice for the first time in his presidency.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 25 October 1980
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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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Monday, 22 December 1980
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Five Syrian soldiers are killed in Zahle; Syrian artillery shells the town.
In Ménargues's account an ambush inside Zahleh killed five Syrian soldiers; when the town would not hand over the culprits after six hours of shelling, it was pounded non-stop for 48 hours, until Washington deplored Syria's conduct in public. Hanf gives an officer and five soldiers dead, shelling through Christmas week and a real ceasefire only weeks later.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date the Syrian bombardment to 21 December (stored entry 415), Ménargues to 22 December onwards. End of the shelling: 26 December (entry 415), after about 48 hours (Ménargues), or an effective ceasefire only weeks later (Hanf).
Other date in the books: Sunday, 21 December 1980
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January 1981
Thursday, 8 January 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Arab Strike Force withdrew from Zahleh.
What the books addAfter the December 1980 clashes in Zahleh, Syrian troops gave up their checkpoints inside the town but kept it under blockade (Hanf). Ménargues, however, says ADF checkpoints were still on the town's main roads when Lebanese Forces fighters seized them in the first days of April 1981.
Other dates in the books: Monday, 22 December 1980, Thursday, 2 April 1981
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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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Wednesday, 22 April 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The nightmare continued. The Lebanese authorities were completely powerless to stop the violence and the conflicting parties were unable to reach an agreement. The Beirut International Airport was closed to traffic and both dead and wounded victims continued to shed their blood on this agonizing Lebanese land.
What the books addAccording to Ménargues, Bashir Gemayel answered the collapse of a cease-fire on 22 April, which left 140 dead or wounded in Beirut within hours, by having the international airport shelled. On 11 May US ambassador John Gunther Dean urged the Lebanese Forces, via Alfred Madi, to let it reopen; that evening they dropped their objection.
Other date in the books: Monday, 11 May 1981
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May 1981
Friday, 8 May 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The American envoy Philip Habib began his talks at the Baabda Palace.
What the books addMénargues writes that Habib came from Damascus by road on the evening of 7 May, Beirut airport being closed. De Clerck and Malsagne date Reagan's dispatch of Habib to 4 May.
Other date in the books: Monday, 4 May 1981
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June 1981
Monday, 8 June 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Arab Vigilance Committee, ending its meetings in Beiteddine, took note of all the parties' commitment to respect the cease-fire on the Lebanese territory. On the other hand, the Committee announced that it would meet again on June 23 in Saudi Arabia and on July 4 in Beiteddine.
What the books addThe meeting was called after Begin told the Knesset on 4 June of his promises to Lebanon's Christians. The Arab envoys asked Bashir Gemayel to break with Israel; he demanded guarantees in return (Hanf, Ménargues).
Other date in the books: Thursday, 4 June 1981
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July 1981
Wednesday, 8 July 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The chief of State Elias Sarkis, met with Bechir Gemayel and Pierre Gemayel. He announced after the meeting that he was given guarantees concerning the rupture of the relations with Israel.
What the books addBashir Gemayel's pledge took the form of a letter to President Sarkis dated 6 July, which Sarkis never published (Ménargues).
Other date in the books: Monday, 6 July 1981
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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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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
Tuesday, 8 June 1982
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Menachem Begin visits Beaufort castle and hands it over to Saad Haddad.
Begin visited Beaufort, the crusader castle taken by Israeli troops after fierce resistance at the start of the invasion, and presented it as a symbol that the Palestinian presence in the south was finished. The cabinet in Jerusalem authorised Sharon to push north and cut the Beirut–Damascus road.
Other date in the books: Sunday, 6 June 1982
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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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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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November 1982
Monday, 8 November 1982
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Massacre at Kfar Nabrakh in the Chouf, the first of the 'Mountain War'.
PSP fighters attacked a Christian funeral at this mixed village after the Lebanese Forces set up a checkpoint nearby, leaving eleven dead and eleven wounded. They also kidnapped nine villagers, a child and two teenagers among them, and burned about twenty houses; the captives were found dead in a well on 23 November, raising the Christian toll to twenty. LF leaders and press then invoked the 1860 massacres against the Druze.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 23 November 1982
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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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December 1982
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, 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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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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Wednesday, 8 February 1984
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The ' New Jersey ', the most powerful battleship in the world from the 6 US fleet, bombed for several hours anti-governmental positions in the mountain.
What the books addDruze militiamen in Tibiyat, east of Beirut, visited by Fisk on 13 February, said the New Jersey's shelling of the Metn and Chouf foothills had killed 24 civilians and wounded 115 (their figures). De Clerck and Malsagne note the ship's frequent misses and its Arabic nickname 'New Jersa' ('new shame').
Art and memory- testimony On 13 February 1984 Fisk heard survivors in the Druze village of Tibiyat describe the New Jersey's shelling; his own archive held a large fragment of one of its shells.
Other date in the books: Monday, 13 February 1984
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January 1985
Tuesday, 8 January 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The security plan for the coastal road and the Iqlim El Kharroub was finally put into execution. The Internal Security Forces started their deployment in these regions.
What the books addHanf dates the army's advance to 9 January 1985, the day he says the Israelis began to pull back. In his account the plan, agreed with Walid Jumblatt, the Sidon Nasserites and the region's Christian deputies, sent a mainly Muslim battalion into the Iqlim al-Kharroub and the Sidon hinterland.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 9 January 1985
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March 1985
Friday, 8 March 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A mass killing took place in Bir El Abed. A car bomb killed 62 persons and wounded 200 others, including a large number of women, children and elderly persons.
What the books addSheikh Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, the target, escaped with his bodyguard Imad Mughniyeh. Fisk dates the car bomb to 9 March and writes of more than 80 dead, nearly all civilians, citing the Washington Post on CIA involvement. De Clerck and Malsagne give 80 dead and 256 wounded and cite confessions by local agents, traced by Hezbollah, that the CIA commissioned it with Mossad help and Saudi funds.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 9 March 1985
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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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Wednesday, 22 May 1985
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Amal takes Sabra camp.
Part of Sabra was destroyed and made a car park after Amal took the camp in the first round of the 'War of the Camps'.
Sources differ: Hanf says Sabra was destroyed and overrun 'by early June'; the original entry of 20 May speaks of all the camps taken.
Other date in the books: Monday, 20 May 1985
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Michel Seurat and Jean-Paul Kauffmann are kidnapped on the airport road.
The French researcher Michel Seurat and the journalist Jean-Paul Kauffmann were abducted on the airport road. Seurat died in captivity.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date Seurat's death to 1986.
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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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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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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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March 1986
Saturday, 8 March 1986
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Four Antenne 2 journalists are kidnapped in Beirut's southern suburbs.
The Revolutionary Justice Organisation claimed the abduction of a four-man crew from the French television channel Antenne 2.
Sources differ: Entry 905 (Text field) gives 9 March; entry 965 gives 21 June.
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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
Sunday, 22 February 1987
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Syrian army returns to West Beirut.
Much of the population welcomed the Syrian troops who entered West Beirut at Muslim leaders' invitation after a week of fighting between Amal and the PSP and its leftist allies. Militiamen were banned from carrying arms in the streets; Amal fell back to the southern suburbs, which the Syrians left alone. Gemayel protested.
Sources differ: Date: 22 February (Hanf; de Clerck and Malsagne, twice), 20 February (Picard), 28 February (Traboulsi). 22 February has the most support and is also the date given in original entry 988. Size of force: two brigades (Hanf), 12,000 soldiers plus Special Forces (de Clerck and Malsagne), 8,000 (Quéméner).
Other dates in the books: Friday, 20 February 1987, Saturday, 28 February 1987
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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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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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July 1988
Friday, 8 July 1988
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Bourj al-Barajneh camp falls to Abu Musa's forces.
After some 70 days of fighting, Syrian-backed Fatah dissidents took Bourj al-Barajneh, the last base Arafat held in Beirut. The Lebanese Internal Security Forces escorted his fighters to Ain al-Hilweh, outside Sidon; Syria now controlled the Beirut camps.
Sources differ: De Clerck's chapter 2 says 'early July' and 'ten days' after Chatila fell at the end of June; his chronology and Hanf give 8 July.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 28 June 1988
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September 1988
Thursday, 22 September 1988
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Three Amal leaders, among them its southern commander Daoud Daoud, are assassinated.
Daoud Daoud, Amal's commander in the south, was murdered with two other Amal officials; Amal blamed Hezbollah and later cast its war as a response to these killings. In 1988 Daoud had also proclaimed a Christian priest of Tyre, tortured to death, a martyr of Amal. That month the two militias clashed in the Bekaa, the south and Beirut's southern suburbs.
Sources differ: Hanf gives only September 1988; de Clerck and the Confluences article (same authors) give 22 September.
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