184 entries on 176 dates · the books disagree on 48
dates 1–60 of 176 next
April 1973
Monday, 30 April 1973
The road to war · From the books
Fatah members with explosives are arrested at Beirut airport.
Four Fatah members with explosives in their luggage were stopped at the airport before a flight to Europe; a day later, near the US embassy, five Democratic Front guerrillas were held.
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October 1973
Saturday, 20 October 1973
The road to war · From the books
Armed robbery of the Bank of America in Beirut.
This raid on the Bank of America was the first major hold-up, coming before the war; once fighting began, bank robberies became common.
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January 1975
Thursday, 30 January 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
15,000 persons demonstrated in Beirut to express their solidarity with South Lebanon, which had been regularly bombed by Israel.
What the books addTraboulsi counts this among the early-1975 protests, a southern general strike and Beirut demonstrations, over the Palestinian presence and the south's defence.
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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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May 1975
Tuesday, 20 May 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Five people were killed and 24 were wounded in Dekwaneh
Violent confrontations opposed Palestinians from the Tell El Zaatar camp and Phalange Party members. Businesses were closed in protest against the lack of security.
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Friday, 30 May 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
'Black Thursday': sectarian kidnappings and killings in Beirut.
Sectarian abductions rose sharply on either side of the demarcation line after a Palestinian was killed and frightening rumours spread through Beirut. The worst came at Bashura, where Christians walking between Basta and the cemetery were abducted and some of them killed or mutilated. The Shiite gang Fityan Ali was blamed. De Clerck and Malsagne stress that this happened months before Black Saturday, often wrongly called the war's first massacre.
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September 1975
Saturday, 20 September 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Zahleh is shelled.
Five days after the Kataeb and the Tajammu called a general mobilisation (15 September), 25 rockets and 17 mortar rounds hit Zahleh.
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Sunday, 21 September 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Bread, flour, gas, and meat became scarce in Beirut while snipers spread terror.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne date the start of bread rationing to September 1975.
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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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Thursday, 30 October 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Yarmouk units enter the Bekaa near Zahleh.
Yarmouk units, a Palestinian force trained by the Syrian army, entered the Bekaa plain near Zahleh by way of Bar Elias. The bishop's diary shows that the Palestinian fighters in the district had until then been Fatah and its Lebanese allies.
Sources differ: Hanf dates the Yarmouk Brigade's crossing to 20 December.
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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
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 · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Sabri Hamadeh died.
Sabri Hamadeh, a legendary figure on the Lebanese political scene and an independence hero, died from a heart attack. He was 74 years old. He was born in 1902 in the Hermel and entered the political arena very early. In 1925, he was elected for the first time deputy of the Hermel. His mandate was renewed several times. In 1944, he became President of the Parliament. In addition, he had been repeatedly vice-president of the Council, as well as Minister of Interior and Minister of Public Works and Transportation. He was titular of several honorific distinctions such as the great cordon of the National Order of the Cedar.
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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Friday, 30 January 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While the normalization process continued, the Superior Military Committee decided to dispatch the Lebanese Army to Damour, Mkalles, and Dbayeh, as well as to the road leading to the Beirut International Airport.
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Lieutenant Ahmed Khatib left the Hasbaya barracks and announced the creation, in the Bekaa, of the Army of Arab Lebanon.
What the books addHistorians date Lieutenant Ahmad al-Khatib's breakaway to 21 January (de Clerck and Malsagne, in the Bekaa) or 22 January (Julie Tegho Bou Nassif, from the diary of the Greek Catholic bishop of Zahleh); Hanf places the mutiny in the south. About 300-400 Muslim soldiers followed him at first. The entry of 30 January may record a later step.
Other dates in the books: Wednesday, 21 January 1976, Thursday, 22 January 1976
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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
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
A 'Maronite summit' at Baabda endorses the Syrian plan.
At Baabda the 'Maronite summit' endorsed Syria's plan: a presidential election, a security cabinet, army reunification and Frangieh's resignation. Its statement thanked Damascus for its grasp of the crisis and its efforts to stop the bloodshed.
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April 1976
Wednesday, 21 April 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Israel names the Litani its 'red line' for Syria.
Calling the Litani a red line, Israel announced on 21 April 1976 that it accepted Syria's intervention provided Syrian troops stayed north of the river.
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May 1976
Sunday, 30 May 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
An avalanche of missiles and shells hit Beirut while combats continued on all fronts. The bombings reached the airport, imposing the closure of runways to air traffic at night.
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June 1976
Monday, 21 June 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The first contingent of the Arab Peace Force arrived to Beirut.
What the books addSudan supplied the Arab peace force's first contingent, some 2,000 men, and Libya the next (Hanf).
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July 1976
Tuesday, 20 July 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Assad publicly justifies the Syrian intervention.
In a long speech in Damascus President Assad defended the intervention as protecting Lebanon's unity, and recounted his meetings with Jumblatt and Arafat.
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Friday, 30 July 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Khalil Salem, director-general of the Finance Ministry, is kidnapped.
Lebanese Arab Army officers wanted Khalil Salem, director general of the Finance Ministry, to sign false pay-slips, and he refused. Seized in West Beirut on his way to work, he was found shot dead in his car boot on 2 August. Nobody has identified his killers.
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November 1976
Saturday, 20 November 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The third phase of the peace plan started. 250 tanks and 11 battalions entered Zghorta, Ehden, Tripoli and the Koura. In South Lebanon, the 'Green Helmets' took position in Saïda, and Zahrani. The Arab Dissuasion Force was not able to enter Tyr, Nabatyeh, Marjeyoun, and Masnaa because of the Israeli opposition to any Arab military presence beyond its famous 'red line'.
What the books addIsrael, Hanf notes, would accept no Arab troops south of the 'red line', Syrian ones least of all. When a Syrian unit entered Nabatiyeh in January 1977, an Israeli protest got it withdrawn and the Palestinians kept the town.
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Sunday, 21 November 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The President addressed a message to the Nation.
In a vibrant call to the Nation at the occasion of Independence Day on the 22nd of November, the President of the Republic called all Lebanese to unite around him in order to build a new Lebanon. He declared that he was sure Lebanon would put up with the challenge caused by the crisis. The President underlined the need for an absolute preservation of security, paying homage to the role played by the Arab Dissuasion Force. The President spoke mainly in his speech about the reconstruction efforts and the boosting of the economy. He also expressed his wish to see neighboring countries assist Lebanon by providing the necessary assistance and facilities.
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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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June 1977
Thursday, 30 June 1977
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
On the last day of its full-powers, the Council of Ministers published a series of decree-laws. The most important ones stipulated the revision of certain laws relative to the Lebanese University, the amendment of some press censorship laws, and the adoption of the mandatory car insurance.
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July 1977
Thursday, 21 July 1977
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The ' technical Palestinian-Syrian-Lebanese committee ' met in Chtaura, trying to put an end to the hostilities in South Lebanon and find a settlement for the Palestinian armed presence in the country, as suggested by the Cairo agreement. This meeting was the first between Lebanese, Syrians, and Palestinians since fights stopped last November. It resulted from the recent meetings between leaders of these three countries.
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August 1977
Sunday, 21 August 1977
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Fifteen Christians are killed at Brih in the Chouf.
Fifteen Christians were executed at Brih, the last Chouf massacre of 1977. The year's killings had sent over 25,000 Christians to Beirut's ill-prepared northern and eastern suburbs.
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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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Wednesday, 21 September 1977
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Israeli shelling hits Rachaya al-Fukhar.
Palestinian guerrillas in Rachaya al-Fukhar, a Christian village in the Hermon foothills, turned away its remaining people, mostly old and sleeping in the church, when they asked them to go. Israel shelled it all morning.
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December 1977
Tuesday, 20 December 1977
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
An-Nahar publishes a Lebanese Front memorandum on the Christians' future.
Lebanon's Christians faced a threat to their survival, the Lebanese Front argued in a memorandum carried by An-Nahar, as a Muslim majority would oppress whatever its intentions.
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January 1978
Friday, 20 January 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A new armament and US equipment shipment sent to the Lebanese Army and the Internal Security Forces arrived at the Port of Beirut. It included a hundred armored vehicles and cistern trucks.
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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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November 1978
December 1978
March 1979
Tuesday, 20 March 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A car bomb containing explosives operated by remote control, parked next to the military council of the Phalange Party was found. This attack aimed at the chief of the Lebanese Forces, Bechir Gemayel.
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Wednesday, 21 March 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Thousands of women demonstrated in the southern suburbs.
A feminine walk was taking place in Furn el Chebbak and Ain el Remmaneh to celebrate mother's day and the international year of the child. Demonstrators brandished banners claiming, among other things, security in the Southern suburbs, an army presence, the return of displaced persons, the indemnification of bombardment victims, and reconstruction loans.
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April 1979
June 1979
Thursday, 21 June 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Violent combats with heavy armaments opposed the Lebanese army and the Arab Strike Force at the jurd of Akoura killing 7 Lebanese and injuring 19 persons, 13 of which were militiamen.
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Elias IV, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and the Orient died.
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Saturday, 30 June 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The 'race for peace' organized by the Lebanese Federation of Athletics under the patronage of L'orient-Le Jour was a manifestation of the Lebanese sportsmen in favor of national unity. Departed from Achrafieh, the 66 participants representing 18 clubs from all the Lebanese regions met in Manara after having crossed the Fouad Chehab Ring.
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July 1979
August 1979
September 1979
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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March 1980
Thursday, 20 March 1980
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Phalange newspaper rejects the National Movement's 'peace of the brave'.
The Phalange daily al-Amal answered on 20 March 1980: there could be no united Lebanon with half a million Palestinians on its territory, and sending the army south must come first. It was replying to the LNM's 'peace of the brave', a call launched at a military parade for the third anniversary of Kamal Jumblatt's assassination to rebuild national unity on an equilibrium between the two camps at war.
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May 1980
June 1980
July 1980
Sunday, 20 July 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Takieddine Solh was asked, by the President of the Republic, to form a new Government of National Union.
What the books addIn Ménargues's account Damascus rejected Takieddine Solh, finding him too lukewarm about Lebanese–Syrian friendship, and offered three names instead, Selim Hoss's among them.
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Monday, 21 July 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Charles Rizk, President of Télé-Liban's Board of Directors, was kidnapped from his home. He was released a few hours later. He presented immediately his resignation to the President of the Republic. The employees at Télé-Liban responded by launching an open strike.
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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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Tuesday, 30 December 1980
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
A Christian–Druze draft agreement is written, then blocked by Damascus.
On 30 December Samir Frangieh set down Antoine Najm's proposals in a handwritten text countersigned by the Druze officer Riad Takieddine: a six-member cabinet including Bashir Gemayel and Walid Jumblatt, no use of Lebanese territory for aggression against Arab states, and sound relations with Syria. Damascus learned of the talks; Assad summoned Jumblatt and rejected any Druze–LF rapprochement, and Jumblatt dropped the idea.
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January 1981
March 1981
dates 1–60 of 176 next
