179 entries on 168 dates · the books disagree on 55
dates 1–60 of 168 next
November 1969
Wednesday, 26 November 1969
The road to war · From the books
Karami's national unity cabinet gives Kamal Jumblatt the Interior Ministry.
Kamal Jumblatt became interior minister, in charge of carrying out the Cairo Agreement, in the government of national union Rashid Karami formed once the Syrian border reopened, ending a cabinet vacancy of over seven months.
Sources differ: 26 November (Traboulsi, twice) or 25 November (de Clerck & Malsagne).
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 25 November 1969
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March 1970
Wednesday, 25 March 1970
The road to war · From the books
Bashir Gemayel is kidnapped and held in Tall al-Za'tar.
Kamal Jumblatt's intervention with Yasir Arafat freed Bashir Gemayel, the Kataeb leader's younger son, seized by Palestinians and held in Tall al-Za'tar camp.
Sources differ: Hanf: 25 March 1970, held eight hours. Ménargues: 1969, adding he was beaten. Jumblatt became interior minister after the November 1969 Cairo Agreement (Hanf), which fits late 1969 or 1970.
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May 1971
Tuesday, 25 May 1971
The road to war · From the books day (planned strike)
A general strike set for 25 May is put off after a 5 per cent wage rise.
The General Workers' Union set a general strike for 25 May 1971 but deferred it when a 5 per cent wage rise was decreed. It sought 11 per cent more pay, lower rents, state imports of medicines and basic foods, a law for farm labourers and no more arbitrary dismissals.
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December 1972
Tuesday, 26 December 1972
The road to war · From the books
The left demonstrates against the Ghandour dismissals.
On 26 December the Left protested again at the Ghandour sackings. Tufaro: workers left the dispute resentful of state and CGTL alike.
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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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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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Wednesday, 26 February 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Troops fire on Sidon's protesting fishermen; Maarouf Saad is mortally wounded.
Maarouf Saad, the Nasserist deputy leading a Sidon fishermen's march, was shot when the army fired on it and died days later; several others were killed or wounded. The marchers opposed Protein, holder of a deep-sea fishing concession, with Camille Chamoun on its board. That evening armed men killed a soldier.
Sources differ: Hanf places the demonstration in March; the existing entry 10 gives 7 March. Traboulsi and de Clerck and Malsagne give 26 February.
Art and memory- film Censored in Lebanon, Le Liban dans la tourmente (1975) was Jocelyne Saab's first war documentary. Filming both a wealthy, carefree bourgeoisie and cheerful children in the Palestinian camps, she asked where the hatred came from.
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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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Monday, 26 May 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The military Cabinet resigned
Islamic and leftist leaders rejected this Cabinet. The Lebanese considered it as a challenge. Karameh presented his candidature to form a new Government, in a climate of terror imposed by militias. Lootings, killings, and kidnappings continued.
What the books addThe National Movement's call for a general strike, supported by the leading Sunni politicians, Mufti Hassan Khaled, Musa al-Sadr and Raymond Edde, brought down the military cabinet on 26 May; on 28 May Frangieh appointed Rashid Karami Prime Minister.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 28 May 1975
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August 1975
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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Thursday, 25 September 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Guardians of the Cedars issue their first communiqué.
Al-Nahar carried the first communiqué of the Guardians of the Cedars, Etienne Sakr's radical nationalist militia, whose thinking drew on the poet Said Akl. El Khoury thinks it had formed some months earlier.
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Friday, 26 September 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The cease-fire breaks down.
The September cease-fire collapsed and fighting resumed in Beirut.
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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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Saturday, 25 October 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
50 000 Lebanese demonstrated against violence in Lebanon, in response to the call launched by Cherif Akhaoui, the radio journalist famous for his security bulletins.
What the books addHaugbolle notes widespread protests on National Day in November 1975; Hanf places the war's first demonstration in that month, when gunmen held fire until tens of thousands from East and West Beirut, summoned by television announcer Sharif Akhawi, had gone home.
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November 1975
Wednesday, 26 November 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Kurt Waldheim, the Secretary General of the United Nations, visited Lebanon for a few hours. He declared that the Lebanese themselves held the solution to the Lebanese crisis.
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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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March 1976
Thursday, 25 March 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The presidential palace at Baabda is shelled; Frangieh leaves for Kfour.
With the Baabda palace shelled by the Lebanese Arab Army and the Joint Forces, Frangieh moved to Kfour in Kesrouan, where he joined Chamoun, Gemayel and Father Qassis on the Lebanese Front, formed in late May.
Sources differ: Traboulsi says Frangieh took refuge 'in East Beirut'; de Clerck and Malsagne, Yara El Khoury and Hanf name Kfour in Kesrouan.
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The unified command of the Lebanese Forces is announced.
Baabda palace was shelled that day. In the evening the Kataeb's Voice of Lebanon radio announced a unified command of the Lebanese Forces, joining the Tanzim, the Guardians of the Cedars, Chamoun's Tigers and the Kataeb militia.
Sources differ: Dates differ: Ménargues puts the founding of the Lebanese Forces' unified command on 31 August 1976, while El Khoury says the formal union was announced to Frangieh in early September.
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May 1976
Tuesday, 25 May 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Raymond Eddeh fell into an ambush between Nahr Ibrahim and Antelias. The Amid's car was riddled with over a hundred projectiles but he got away with only an injured leg.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne record three attempts on Raymond Eddé's life, one outside his home, before his voluntary exile in Paris from January 1977; Picard dates the exile to December 1976.
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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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August 1976
Thursday, 26 August 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Moscow condemns the massacres at Tal al-Za'tar and Nabaa.
The Soviet agency Tass condemned the massacres committed by Christian forces at Nabaa and Tall al-Za'tar. Syria's intervention also led to a temporary halt in Soviet-Syrian cooperation.
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September 1976
October 1976
Monday, 25 October 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Arab summit in Cairo endorses the Riyadh decisions.
Iraq and Libya alone objected when, on 25 October, a Cairo summit of the full Arab League endorsed the Riyadh decisions. Syria's troops in Lebanon became the Arab Deterrent Force, funded by the Arab oil states.
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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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May 1977
Thursday, 26 May 1977
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The mandate of the Arab four-party committee in charge of the execution of the Palestinian-Lebanese Cairo agreement had expired, while the agreement had not been executed yet.
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July 1977
Monday, 25 July 1977
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
An agreement was signed in Chtaura.
The technical four-party committee decided unanimously the following: -Approving the two plans of action for the execution of the Cairo agreement. -Entrusting the regular Lebanese forces and the Arab Strike Force with the supervision of their execution in all regions, including Southern Lebanon. -Starting the execution of the two plans of action on July 30, no armed elements will be allowed to circulate outside the camps. -Withdrawal of the Palestinian forces up to 15 kilometers north of the borderline with Israel.
What the books addSyria, Hanf writes, had lost interest in disarming the Palestinians by autumn 1977, with Sadat's initiative under way, and the deal soon counted for nothing. It had bound the PLO to keep out of a ten-kilometre belt beside the Israeli frontier and, chiefly, to halt raids and shelling across it.
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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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Sunday, 25 September 1977
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Following efforts deployed by the American government in Tel Aviv, a cease-fire came into effect in Southern Lebanon. During the past few days, fights reached their maximum intensity especially in the Khyam region.
What the books addIsrael's Christian allies emerged with a slightly wider strip, spanning nearly the whole frontier from sea to Hermon; Fisk dates the tank withdrawal to 26 September.
Other date in the books: Monday, 26 September 1977
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Monday, 26 September 1977
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Israeli tanks pull back from southern Lebanon.
After a week of clashes in the south, Israel's Christian militia allies held a slightly larger strip, along nearly all the frontier from coast to Hermon, and Israel withdrew the tanks it had sent in.
Sources differ: Original entry 149 dates the ceasefire to 25 September.
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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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Thursday, 26 January 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Feyrouz played Queen of ' Petra ', the play that the Rahbani brothers wrote and presented at the Picadilly Theatre. Assi Rahbani was the Director, Abdel-Hamid Caracalla was in charge of the scenography, Papou Lahoud did the costumes, and Ghazi Kahwaji the decoration.
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February 1978
July 1978
Wednesday, 26 July 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Israeli Prime Minister Menahem Begin declared : 'Christians in Lebanon are threatened of being annihilated'.
What the books addFisk adds that the Syrian shelling slackened around this time after sonic booms from a pair of Israeli jets flying low over West Beirut.
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August 1978
Friday, 25 August 1978
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Imam Musa al-Sadr travels to Libya, where he disappears.
Imam Musa al-Sadr, the Shi'i leader who founded the Movement of the Deprived and Amal, vanished after accepting an invitation to visit Libya.
Sources differ: Hanf says September; Fisk reported the disappearance on 13 September; original entry 212 has 10 September.
Art and memory- book Fouad Ajami's book on the imam, The Vanished Imam: Musa al-Sadr and the Shia of Lebanon (1986).
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September 1978
Tuesday, 26 September 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
President Alfred Naccache was dead from pneumonia. He was 91 years old. He was President of the Republic between 1941 and 1943, under the French mandate. After the independence, he was given several ministerial functions, before he retired from politics. He was born in Beirut in 1887 and studied law at Saint Joseph University. He became advisor for the supreme court of appeal, and then headed the appeal court. In 1941, he became President of the Republic until March 18, 1943. He was titular of several honorific distinctions such as the great cordon of the cedar order.
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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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Monday, 26 March 1979
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Egypt and Israel sign a peace treaty; the Lebanese balance shifts.
In Lebanon the Israeli-Egyptian treaty, signed in Washington, had deep effects. The Lebanese Forces strengthened their cooperation with Israel, and Syria moved closer to the PLO, letting it return in 1979 to its earlier positions south of Beirut. For Traboulsi, the peace process undermined the Sarkis regime.
Sources differ: Traboulsi and Picard give the month only; de Clerck and Malsagne give 26 March.
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April 1979
August 1979
September 1979
October 1979
Thursday, 25 October 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese government who had just launched a wide offensive against barratry and smuggling, adopted serious measures to insure the supervision of the coasts and to prevent pirate cargos from accosting in the clandestine ports.
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December 1979
January 1980
Friday, 25 January 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Fights opposed the Phalange Party and the NLP in Ehmej and Annaya. The road leading to Jbeil was closed. An acute crisis erupted between the two parties.
What the books addOne of many clashes between Kataeb and National Liberal militiamen: de Clerck and Malsagne count 46, with 200 dead, from 1976 to 1980, the latest wave running from 12 May 1979 to 2 July 1980 and reaching Achrafieh early in 1980. Ménargues traces the tension of early 1980 partly to disputes over dividing the arms Israel supplied.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 12 May 1979
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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
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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August 1980
September 1980
Friday, 26 September 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
An assault was launched against the US embassy in West Beirut. Two missiles were fired on the chancellery hitting the second and fourth floors. The aggressors remained unidentified.
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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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March 1981
April 1981
Monday, 20 April 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The situation was worsening in Lebanon. Violence unleashed in the South where artillery duels and air raids on Nabatyeh and Saida killed 16 and injured 33. Sporadic bombardments shred the silence in Zahleh. East Beirut was violently shelled and bombings spread to Nahr El Kalb causing five deaths and 32 wounded.
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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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September 1981
dates 1–60 of 168 next
