82 entries on 75 dates · the books disagree on 82
dates 1–60 of 75 next
November 1969
Monday, 3 November 1969
The road to war · From the books
The Cairo Agreement is signed between the Lebanese army and the PLO.
Only Raymond Eddé and his bloc voted against the agreement, which deputies ratified without seeing its full, secret text. Concluded in Cairo through Egyptian mediation by Yasir Arafat and army commander General Emile Bustani, it affirmed Lebanese sovereignty but let guerrillas keep armed units in the camps and observation posts near the border and move to and from the Arqoub.
Sources differ: Three dates: 3 November (de Clerck & Malsagne, Traboulsi's chronology; Hanf's negotiation of 1-3 November ends that day), 8 November (Traboulsi's chapter 9) and 13 November (Picard). 3 November has the most, and mutually independent, support; Traboulsi contradicts himself.
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September 1972
Saturday, 16 September 1972
The road to war · From the books
After Munich, Israel invades South Lebanon for three days.
Israeli forces entered the south in reprisal for the Munich Olympics attack on Israeli athletes, striking Nahr al-Bared camp and southern and Bekaa villages. The Lebanese army held them up for two days; they left after three, destroying bridges and houses on the way out. De Clerck & Malsagne count 118 dead.
Sources differ: Death toll 118 (de Clerck & Malsagne) or more than 100 (Picard). Only de Clerck & Malsagne give the day.
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November 1972
Friday, 3 November 1972
The road to war · From the books
Workers at the Ghandour factories begin an open-ended strike.
On 3 November 1972 an indefinite strike began at the Ghandour confectionery group, Lebanon's largest non-unionised industrial workforce. Workers wanted their factory committee recognised, the right to unionise, equal wages for women and higher pay.
Sources differ: Workforce: 1,200 in Shiyah (Traboulsi) or about 1,250 in Choueifat plus 350 in Chiyah (Tufaro).
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December 1972
Friday, 15 December 1972
The road to war · From the books
Ghandour locks out and dismisses its workers.
Talks failed; the company locked out and sacked its whole workforce. Traboulsi says it reopened after a week, taking back all but 100 it saw as ringleaders; Tufaro describes a six-month lockout that fresh protests ended, with the demands unmet.
Sources differ: Length of the lockout: one week (Traboulsi) against a declared six months (Tufaro).
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May 1973
Thursday, 3 May 1973
The road to war · From the books day (disputed)
The Lebanese air force bombs Palestinian camps in Beirut.
The Lebanese air force was used against the camps: Hanf writes that it bombed Burj al-Barajneh in response to rockets launched at the airport from inside the camp.
Sources differ: 3 May and Burj al-Barajneh (Traboulsi) against 2 May and the Sabra-Shatila area (de Clerck & Malsagne); Hanf gives Burj al-Barajneh without a day. They may be separate raids.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 2 May 1973
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April 1975
Tuesday, 15 April 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A cease-fire was reached
After more than three days of anguish, with 120 deaths and many injuries, two suspects were handed over to the Justice. Beirut and its surroundings have been the theater of violent clashes between the Phalange Party and Palestinian militias. Also, Zghortiotes and Tripolitans fought in Tripoli. A cease-fire was declared at night and all parties reached an agreement, the execution of which was entrusted to the Internal Security Forces.
What the books addAfter several days of fighting (Hanf; four, says Traboulsi), Pierre Gemayel gave up to the police two militiamen implicated in the Ain al-Rummaneh shooting. Early Syrian mediation failed to stop this round, which de Clerck and Malsagne end with a cease-fire on 16 May 1975; no book confirms a truce on 15 April.
Other date in the books: Friday, 16 May 1975
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May 1975
Friday, 16 May 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
A cease-fire ends the first round of fighting.
De Clerck and Malsagne date the ceasefire that closed this first round to 16 May; an earlier Syrian mediation had not stopped the fighting. The Solh cabinet resigned the same day (existing entry 15).
Sources differ: The existing entry 13 records a cease-fire on 15 April.
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December 1975
Friday, 12 December 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Sixty people are killed in Zahleh.
Six days after Black Saturday, assaults and shelling by Palestine Liberation Army and Yarmouk units killed sixty Christians of Zahleh; Bishop Bassul called it a massacre.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne blame attacks by the PLA and Yarmouk units; Tegho Bou Nassif blames fedayeen shelling.
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Monday, 15 December 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
After a week of dreadful combats, the first phases of the 18th cease-fire agreement were executed with the evacuation of the towers and big hotels in the capital.
What the books addHanf has the Murabitun, discreetly backed by the Palestinians, going on the offensive against the Kataeb downtown and around the hotels on 8 December and seizing the Phoenicia and St Georges. Traboulsi places an army attempt to retake the two hotels on 9 December.
Other dates in the books: Monday, 8 December 1975, Tuesday, 9 December 1975
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March 1976
Monday, 15 March 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Lieutenant Ahmed Khatib, chief of the ' Army of Arab Lebanon ', rejoined Ahdab's reformist movement. Barracks fell in the hands of protesters. 68 deputies signed a petition claiming the departure of Sleiman Frangieh who refused to leave his post, despite all the pressures against him.
What the books addThe deputies' petition demanding Frangieh's resignation is dated 11 March in Traboulsi's chronology and 13 March by de Clerck and Malsagne; Picard and Traboulsi's chronology count 68 signatures out of 99, Traboulsi's narrative 69. On 15 March Syrian-controlled PLA and Saiqa units halted a march on the Baabda palace by the Lebanese Arab Army and al-Ahdab's followers. Within days Khatib's force grew to a few thousand men and held most of the army's heavy weapons.
Other dates in the books: Thursday, 11 March 1976, Saturday, 13 March 1976
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April 1976
Monday, 12 April 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Assad attacks the National Movement and offers to intervene.
Pierre Gemayel called it a historic speech: in Damascus, President Assad said Syria was ready to send forces into Lebanon to protect any oppressed group, Christian or Muslim, and attacked the PLO and National Movement leaders.
Sources differ: Traboulsi's chronology lists 'al-Asad's speech attacking LNM' under '13 March', apparently a misprint for 12 April.
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Thursday, 15 April 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Despite the extension of the truce, several fronts were set ablaze, including those in Beirut.
A new agreement, called the Damascus Agreement, was likely to be applied in the next 48 hours. Syrian and Resistance leaders had signed it. The agreement stipulated ending hostilities, reactivating the 'Supreme Military Committee', refusing the partition of Lebanon, rejecting American arrangements and plans in Lebanon, continuing the Syrian initiative and refusing the internationalization or the 'Arabization' of the Lebanese crisis. Also, an agreement had been reached stipulating the withdrawal of Syrian troops that entered the Bekaa region on April 10, back to the Masnaa borderline.
What the books addTraboulsi's chronology puts the Syrian-PLO accord to restore order in Beirut on 11 April. Around 9 April Syrian army tanks entered the Bekaa at Anjar, Judaydat Yabus and Bayadir al-Adas (Traboulsi), some forty in all according to Yara El Khoury, as Saiqa fighters set about ending the siege of Zahleh.
Other dates in the books: Friday, 9 April 1976, Sunday, 11 April 1976
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June 1976
Tuesday, 15 June 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese Front approved the application of the solutions of the sub-summit, concerning the dispatch, to Lebanon, of a peace force including Libyan, Algerian, Syrian, Sudanese, Saudi, and Palestinian contingents.
What the books addPicard (2016) dates to 9 June 1976 the Arab League Council resolution, taken in Cairo, that created an Arab peace force. Hanf has some 2,000 Sudanese arriving first, then Libyans; Picard (2002) says Tripoli sent 500 men in June.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 9 June 1976
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August 1976
Thursday, 12 August 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Tell El Zaatar assault and massacre
After a siege that lasted 52 days, the Tell El Zaatar Palestinian camp fell in the hands of the Lebanese Forces as a result of an ultimate assault launched at dawn. It was in total confusion that the 12000 camp residents were evacuated. In retaliation, kidnappings were reported in West Beirut. 2000 people died in fighting during the entire siege, and 4000 were wounded. The surviving cilvilians were settled by The PLO in other camps and in Damour.
What the books addTal al-Za'tar fell on 12 August 1976 (13 August in Ménargues) after more than 70 assaults. Ménargues and Hanf count a siege of 52-53 days from the final offensive; de Clerck and Malsagne and Traboulsi count six months from the January blockade. An ICRC report cited by de Clerck and Malsagne puts the dead at about 2,500 residents and defenders and up to 800 attackers; many died trying to escape. The Tigers and the Guardians of the Cedar led the last assault, reportedly with Syrian and Israeli officers present. The camp was bulldozed and never rebuilt.
Art and memory- novel Liana Badr's novel The Eye of the Mirror tells of a girl growing up in Tal al-Za'tar during the siege of 1976.
- artwork Ziad Rahbani made the siege of Tal al-Za'tar widely known through one of his musical works.
- film Georges Hachem's film Balle perdue (2010) is set in late summer 1976 north of Beirut, in the lull that followed the fall of Tal al-Za'tar.
- place Tal al-Za'tar was bulldozed after its fall in 1976; neither it nor Jisr al-Basha, both levelled that year, has been rebuilt.
- testimony Nayla Hachem's testimony describes her relief work in 1976 at the siege of Tal al-Za'tar, the fall of Nabaa and the massacres; she was a nurse, later an ICRC delegate.
- book In Camille Chamoun's war diary, Tal al-Za'tar's fall in August 1976 was a triumph of fighters of every class.
- artwork The play Silence, ça tourne (2025) is built on the testimony of a Swedish nurse who survived the siege of Tal al-Za'tar.
Other dates in the books: Sunday, 4 January 1976, Friday, 13 August 1976
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November 1976
Monday, 15 November 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Phase 2 of the peace plan started.
The Arab Strike Force including mainly Syrians started to advance on various axes leading to the heart of the capital, as well as the Chouf, the Kesrouan, and Jbeil. 8,000 infantrymen and 250 armored vehicles converged towards the districts of Beirut and the front line.
What the books addHanf puts the entry of about 6,000 Syrian soldiers, in the peace force's green helmets, into East and West Beirut on 14 November. Fisk's report in The Times of 16 November dated their occupation of the whole city to the previous morning, with 6,000 men and hundreds of tanks; the last firing, near the port, ended on 16 November, Fisk recounts.
Other dates in the books: Sunday, 14 November 1976, Tuesday, 16 November 1976
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January 1977
Wednesday, 12 January 1977
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The collection of heavy and light arms continued while the government was helping the victims of the war and trying to boost the economy.
What the books addUnder the Riyadh decisions of October 1976 all parties were to give up heavy weapons to the Arab Deterrent Force; the Hoss government set a 5 December 1976 deadline (Traboulsi). Fisk reports the militias did not hand them in; Hanf, that the Palestinians moved most of theirs south of the 'red line'.
Other date in the books: Monday, 18 October 1976
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March 1977
Wednesday, 16 March 1977
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Kamal Joumblatt was assassinated
He was leaving Moukhtara when he and two other passengers were killed. An ambush was set up not far from an Arab Strike Force control post. This assassination aroused a huge wave of disapproval. A call for a strike was immediately issued. The country was in mourning. Chief of the Lebanese left wing, leader of the Druze community, author of several political books, coming from a famous family in the Chouf, Kamal Joumblatt was born in 1917 in Moukhtara, with essentially an eclectic spirit. After he graduated from the Law school in Saint Joseph University in Beirut, he went into politics very young. In 1946 he was elected for the first time Deputy of the Chouf in the Parliament and three years later he was appointed Minister of Economy and Agriculture. In 1949, he founded the Lebanese Progressive Socialist Party (PSP). Three months before his assassination, he had given up politics.
What the books addJumblatt was ambushed near a Syrian checkpoint of the Arab Deterrent Force; Fisk places it on the mountain road near Baaqlin. Most historians give 16 March 1977 (Traboulsi, de Clerck and Malsagne, the Confluences authors, and Hanf on one page); Hanf elsewhere and Ménargues give 17 March, which Ménargues ties to the burial. His son Walid took over, and Christians were killed in reprisal in Chouf villages. Hanf writes that most politicians, Muslims above all, took the murder as a warning against defying Syria openly, and that Jumblatt had attacked the Syrian presence in speech and print, in Lebanon and abroad.
Art and memory- book Dima de Clerck reads Kamal and Walid Jumblatt as shapers of Druze memory around family grievances: the defeat after 1860 and Bashir Jumblatt's fall in 1825.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 17 March 1977
The Lebanese war · Added from the books range
Christians are killed in Chouf villages in reprisal for Kamal Jumblatt's murder.
Many of the Christians killed in revenge for Kamal Jumblatt's assassination were Jumblatt loyalists, communists or SSNP sympathisers. Some died at home in Chouf villages; on mountain roads, clergy and civilians were stopped in their cars and shot; in West Beirut districts held by the leftist Joint Forces, Christians were abducted and executed. Walid Jumblatt said he had tried to halt the killings, and some Druze warned Christian neighbours or diverted school buses.
Sources differ: Death toll: 177 (de Clerck and Malsagne) against 130 to 180 (Hanf). Displaced: 25,000 after these killings (Hanf) against more than 25,000 for all the 1977 Chouf massacres including Brih (de Clerck and Malsagne, p. 159). Date: 16 March (de Clerck and Malsagne) against 17 March (Ménargues). Hanf (p. 275) calls it an 'isolated incident'.
Art and memory- testimony Mountain Christians use two words for the massacres of 1976, 1977 and 1983: majazir, plain 'massacre', and madhabih, a cruder term evoking throat-cutting and killing at close range.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 17 March 1977
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March 1978
Wednesday, 15 March 1978
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Israeli aircraft bomb the Palestinian camps of Beirut, Tyre and Damour.
Operation Litani brought Israeli air raids on the Palestinian camps of Beirut and Tyre and on Damour, which had taken in survivors of Tal al-Za'tar. In the south, Israeli forces killed at least 200 Fatah fighters.
Sources differ: Entry 176 (14 March) already mentions air raids on Damour, Ouzai and Tyre.
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May 1978
Friday, 12 May 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Seiman Frangieh and Rachid Karameh reconciled under the auspices of the Syrian commander of the Arab Strike Force in Northern Lebanon.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne record that Frangieh had quit the Lebanese Front the day before over its ties with Israel. The reconciliation, Hanf notes, made the north a pro-Syrian bloc.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 11 May 1978
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October 1978
Tuesday, 3 October 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
France took the initiative of a cease-fire in Beirut and suggested the repositioning of the Arab Strike Force, as well as the interposition of a Lebanese Force between the belligerents.
Other date in the books: Monday, 16 October 1978
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February 1979
Monday, 12 February 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Brian Urqhart, the assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, examined with Lebanese officials the modalities of the Army's deployment in the South next to the UNIFL Israel nevertheless rejected the program.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 18 April 1979
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May 1979
Tuesday, 15 May 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Phalange Party and the LNP merged under the sign of cooperation with the State.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne date the start of the fighting between Kataeb and National Liberal Party militias to 12 May 1979, at Furn el-Chebbak; clashes recurred in various places until July 1980.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 12 May 1979
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June 1979
Saturday, 16 June 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
After murderous combats, the Lebanese authorities decided to send the army to Ain el Remmane at the beginning of the week.
What the books addBashir Gemayel's men fought a bloody battle with army units sent, at Pierre Gemayel's and Camille Chamoun's request, to separate the Kataeb and National Liberal militias, at war since 12 May. De Clerck and Malsagne call it the first serious armed clash between the army and a Lebanese militia, dating it once to 14 June and once to 18 June.
Other dates in the books: Saturday, 12 May 1979, Monday, 18 June 1979
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November 1979
Monday, 12 November 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The work document that Lebanon was going to present in Tunis, contained 6 main points: exercising pressure on the United States to end Israeli aggressions, freezing the actions of the Fedayin, laying the Lebanese authority in the South, banning any illegal armed presence, re-activating the Beiteddine Committee, and grouping guerillas in some specified zones.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 20 November 1979
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December 1980
Friday, 12 December 1980
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Bashir Gemayel presents President Sarkis with a federal plan.
An army-backed coup before the 1982 presidential election was what a confidential paper drafted for Bashir Gemayel by Karim Pakradouni proposed; he and Sarkis went over it at Baabda. Its aims: ending Syria's occupation, the curbing, then destruction, of the Palestinian organisations, and a federal system replacing the 1926 constitution. Sarkis asked for time, never answering directly.
Sources differ: Traboulsi names Pakradouni and Abou Khalil as authors and says Elie Hobeika and Zahi Boustani took the plan to Iraq; Ménargues names Pakradouni, with edits by Antoine Najm.
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January 1981
Saturday, 3 January 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
After its withdrawal from Ain El Remmaneh on October 31, 1980 the Army repositioned on the main road axes in the region.
What the books addDates differ. De Clerck and Malsagne's chronology has the Lebanese Forces controlling East Beirut from 31 October 1980. Ménargues puts the LF's 48-hour assault on Ain al-Remmaneh, held by Elias Hannouche's Chamounists, ten days after the 10 November car bombs, around 20 November 1980.
Other dates in the books: Friday, 31 October 1980, Thursday, 20 November 1980
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April 1981
Sunday, 12 April 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Following several days of violent confrontations with the Phalange militia, the Arab Strike Force completed its occupation of the most strategic hills of Zahleh. The supply channels between the capital of the Bekaa and Mount Lebanon were closed.
What the books addMénargues writes that Syrian special forces, landed by helicopter at dawn on 10 April, soon took the heights of Qalaat Aramta and Deir Charfé around Zahleh, leaving its defenders almost encircled.
Other date in the books: Friday, 10 April 1981
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May 1981
Tuesday, 12 May 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
SAM missiles were launched against Israeli spy airplanes.
What the books addMénargues's run of drone losses begins on 14 May, when a Syrian SAM-6 downed an Israeli reconnaissance drone over the Bekaa; more were lost on 19, 22 (two) and 25 May.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 14 May 1981
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August 1981
Sunday, 16 August 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Elias Youssef Hannouch, 38 years old, former leader of the NLP, refugee in West Beirut since November 1980, was killed in Raoucheh with his two children.
What the books addMénargues places the attack at 9 a.m. in a Hamra side street: four gunmen fired on Hannouche's Range Rover, killing him, his daughter May (9), his son Alain (7) and two bodyguards. His armed entry into Zahleh under Syrian protection on 20 December 1980 had started the Zahleh crisis.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 20 December 1980
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December 1981
Tuesday, 15 December 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A bomb attack destroyed the Iraqi embassy. 20 persons were killed including the ambassador and 100 were wounded.
What the books addMénargues dates the bombing to 16 December. The six-storey embassy at Ramlet al-Baida was destroyed by an explosives-laden car driven by Shiite suicide attackers; a group nobody knew claimed it, and the ambassador's body took four days to find. It followed heavy fighting in West Beirut on 4 December between Amal and pro-Iraqi Baathists, and a Lebanese Forces visit to Baghdad.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 16 December 1981
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January 1982
Tuesday, 12 January 1982
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Israeli Defence Minister Ariel Sharon makes a secret visit to the Christian-held zone of Lebanon.
Sharon came in person to see the ground and the Christians' political situation before the planned operation. Six days later, on 19 January, the LF sent a delegation to Tel Aviv to coordinate with the Israeli army.
Sources differ: Ménargues is inconsistent: his narrative gives 12–13 January, the Plan M annex 12 January, and since he puts the 19 January trip six days after the visit, that implies 13 January.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 19 January 1982
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March 1982
Tuesday, 16 March 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The plot against foreign embassies continued. A large number of embassies closed their doors, while those that were still open were a regularly subjected to threats or assaults.
What the books addThe 117 foreign diplomatic staff killed in the war included the ambassadors of France (4 September 1981), Iraq (15 December 1981) and Algeria (13 January 1982).
Other date in the books: Friday, 4 September 1981
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June 1982
Thursday, 3 June 1982
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Israeli ambassador in London, Shlomo Argov, is shot and gravely wounded.
Abu Nidal's dissident group, hostile to the PLO leadership, carried out the shooting, which Arafat condemned. Israel used it as the pretext for bombing Beirut the next day and for the invasion. De Clerck and Malsagne cite Ronen Bergman, who attributes the London attack to the Mossad.
Sources differ: Bergman's attribution to the Mossad, reported by de Clerck and Malsagne, is not shared by the other books.
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July 1982
Saturday, 3 July 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While waiting for the PLO's response to the Israeli conditions, West Beirut was under a tight blockade.
Other date in the books: Friday, 2 July 1982
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
More than 100,000 Israelis demonstrate in Tel Aviv against the war.
The demonstration, which called for negotiations with the Palestinians, was organised by a 'Committee against the war in Lebanon' set up at the end of June. Before that, also at the end of June, thousands had demonstrated outside Begin's home while the cabinet met.
Sources differ: Ménargues dates the protest outside Begin's home to 'Sunday 28 June'; 28 June 1982 was a Monday.
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September 1982
Wednesday, 15 September 1982
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Israeli army enters West Beirut.
Israel said it was preventing a 'bloodbath' when its troops moved into West Beirut at 5 a.m., hours after Bashir Gemayel's death was announced, in breach of commitments given through Philip Habib. Leftist militias resisted in places. The Israeli army surrounded the Sabra and Chatila camps without entering them.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 14 September 1982
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Thursday, 16 September 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Israelis' attacks against West Beirut continued, killing 31 persons and injuring 121 others. Major damages were also reported.
What the books addIsraeli troops entered West Beirut at 5 a.m. on 15 September, the morning after Bashir Gemayel's death, against the commitments given through Philip Habib; Lebanese leftist militias fought them in parts of the city.
Other dates in the books: Tuesday, 14 September 1982, Wednesday, 15 September 1982
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Habib Tanios Chartouni, Bashir Gemayel's assassin, is arrested.
A cousin leading a group in the LF security service arrested Habib Tanios Chartouni, a 26-year-old Syrian Social Nationalist Party member, at about 5.30 p.m.; he confessed on camera. Handed to the army in April 1983, he walked free on 13 October 1990, when Syrian troops entered the Metn.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 28 April 1983
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The left founds the Lebanese National Resistance Front to fight the Israeli occupation.
Three parties founded it: the Lebanese Communist Party, the Organisation of Communist Action and the Arab Socialist Action Party. It coordinated armed action against Israeli troops in Beirut, the Mountain, the south and the Bekaa.
Sources differ: Picard dates the Front's first attacks to the end of August, before its formal launch.
The Lebanese war · Added from the books range
Militiamen sent into Sabra and Chatila by the Israeli army begin a massacre that lasts until the morning of 18 September.
Elie Hobeika's Lebanese Forces security men entered the camps on the evening of 16 September under Israeli flares, inside an Israeli cordon; according to witnesses, Saad Haddad's militiamen went in first. The killing went on through the 17th until the morning of the 18th, when reporters first got in. See the check of original event 606.
Sources differ: Traboulsi gives 15-17 September and Hanf 17-18 September; most books give 16-18 September.
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November 1982
Tuesday, 16 November 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Israelis reinforced their control in the Chouf and Aley. The leaders in the mountain called upon Amine Gemayel who seemed determined to speed the settlement of the crisis in the Druze-Christian regions.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 14 September 1982
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March 1983
Wednesday, 16 March 1983
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
14 American Marines and Italian bersaglieri were wounded by three attacks perpetrated in less than 12 hours. Washington and Rome declared however that the Multinational Force would continue its mission. The Lebanese Army launched a clean up operation in the Southern suburbs.
What the books addA caller claimed the attacks for 'Islamic Jihad', then an unknown name; the same voice later claimed the embassy bombing (Fisk). He counts ten Italians, two critically, and five US Marines wounded within 48 hours. De Clerck and Malsagne date these first Islamic Jihad attacks to 17 March.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 17 March 1983
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May 1983
Sunday, 15 May 1983
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Deputies are briefed on the agreement with Israel in closed session.
Behind closed doors the deputies went through the text. Foreign Minister Elie Salem argued that Israeli observers for a limited time were better than continued occupation, and Saeb Salam did much to win them over.
Sources differ: Hanf and Fisk date the parliamentary vote to 14 or 15 June (entry 676); in de Clerck and Malsagne's chronology parliament approved the agreement on 17 May.
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September 1983
Friday, 16 September 1983
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The battle for Souk el-Gharb begins.
From 16 September the Druze and their Syrian and Palestinian allies attacked Souk el-Gharb, the ridge village above East Beirut, the Defence Ministry and the Baabda palace, held by Michel Aoun's army brigade. By the army's report most of it had fallen on the night of 18 September.
Sources differ: The Americans afterwards accused the army of overstating its plight to pull in the US Navy (Fisk).
Other date in the books: Sunday, 18 September 1983
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October 1983
Sunday, 16 October 1983
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Israeli troops fire on the Ashoura crowd in Nabatieh.
On Ashoura, Israeli soldiers whose convoy had entered Nabatieh's crowds were stoned and fired, killing two Shi'is and wounding seven. De Clerck and Malsagne note it is often seen as a turning point for Islamic resistance to the occupation.
Sources differ: The Israeli army first denied any casualties, then said it had been fired on (Fisk).
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January 1984
Sunday, 15 January 1984
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Ships from the sixth US fleet were positioned off Beirut. They were retaliating to the bombing of Marines' headquarters in the capital.
Other date in the books: Monday, 9 January 1984
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Monday, 16 January 1984
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Saad Haddad, commander of the Army of Free Lebanon, died from a generalized cancer. He was 47 years old and was buried in his birthplace, Marjeyoun.
What the books addSources disagree on the date of Saad Haddad's death: Ménargues gives 13 January 1984; Hanf and Fisk give January 1984; de Clerck and Malsagne give December 1983. No supplied book gives 16 January. Ménargues also gives his birth year as 1937 and his origin as Marjayoun, consistent with the age stated here.
Other date in the books: Friday, 13 January 1984
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March 1984
Friday, 16 March 1984
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
CIA Beirut station chief William Buckley is kidnapped.
William Buckley was abducted leaving his home in Raouche; officially a political attaché at the American embassy, he died in captivity in 1985.
Sources differ: Fisk contradicts himself: 'a week' after 7 March in one passage (about 14 March), May 1984 in another. De Clerck and Malsagne give 16 March, which agrees with Fisk's first account.
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December 1984
Saturday, 15 December 1984
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Army's deployment plan between Madfoun and the Awali river as well as in the Iqlim El Kharroub was finally executed. The entire population went on strike in South Lebanon to protest against the military operation of December 13.
What the books addHanf dates the army's advance into the Sidon region to 9 January 1985, as Israel began pulling back. Some of the 15 December deployment may have been north of the Awali, which he does not detail. The southern strike is not in the books.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 9 January 1985
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January 1985
Saturday, 12 January 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The army deployed on the coastal road South of Beirut and in the Iqlim EL Kharroub after the withdrawal of the Lebanese Forces and the PSP militiamen. The government appointed Edmond Naim Governor of the Central Bank, Michel Samaha CEO of Télé Liban, Mohammed Beydoun president of the Council of the South, and Ayoub Hemayed General Director of the Information.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne say Edmond Naim succeeded Michel el-Khoury at the Central Bank because both the militia chiefs and the unity cabinet could accept him.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 9 January 1985
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March 1985
Tuesday, 12 March 1985
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The 'intifada' of Samir Geagea and Elie Hobeika takes over the Lebanese Forces.
Calling for an 'independent Christian decision' and an end to concessions to Syria, Samir Geagea, Elie Hobeika and Karim Pakradouni led a revolt within the Lebanese Forces against President Amin Gemayel and the Kataeb leadership. The rebels took the LF headquarters in Ashrafieh after its main barracks north of Beirut; the army had to keep them apart from Kataeb loyalists.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne say the intifada ousted LF commander Fouad Abou Nader, the president's nephew; Hanf presents it as a revolt against the Kataeb leadership and the president. De Clerck and Malsagne's figure of about 1,000 dead covers both intifadas (1985 and 1986) together.
Art and memory- testimony Jocelyne Khoueiry, in the Kataeb women's unit since 1975, quit and went back to civilian life after Geagea's intifada of March 1985; she felt 'our cause had been betrayed'.
- place Shellfire and snipers hit the Rizk Hospital in Ashrafieh in 1985, when East Beirut's militia factions fought each other.
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Friday, 15 March 1985
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
British businessman Brian Levick is kidnapped in West Beirut.
On rue Australie five gunmen took Brian Levick, the Coral oil company's British general manager, out of his car; Terry Anderson was seized twelve and a half hours later.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 8 January 1985
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Saturday, 16 March 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The regional director of the Associated Press, Terry Anderson, was kidnapped in West Beirut. Many other US and British nationals had already been kidnapped. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for these acts.
What the books addTerry Anderson was the AP's Beirut bureau chief. He was seized near the Ain Mreisseh mosque and held for more than six years. Two Britons had been kidnapped in the two days before him; Islamic Jihad claimed all three on 17 March.
Art and memory- book Terry Anderson's memoir Den of Lions (1993) recounts his captivity; Fisk devotes a chapter, 'Wait for me', to his kidnapping.
Other dates in the books: Tuesday, 8 January 1985, Sunday, 17 March 1985
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September 1985
Monday, 16 September 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
In Tripoli, ten soldiers from the Lebanese Army were killed and 35 others wounded by shells that fell on the Bahjat Ghanem barracks.
What the books addOn 7 October, Hanf writes, 20,000 Syrian soldiers entered Tripoli, after pro-Syrian groups had in September 1985 attacked the Tawheed movement then holding the city; some 250,000 civilians fled.
Other date in the books: Monday, 7 October 1985
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January 1986
Wednesday, 15 January 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
In eight hours of violent fights, 100 persons were killed, and the chief of staff of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, evinced Elie Hobeika sending him into exile.
What the books addHistorians date Geagea's takeover to 15 January 1986 (de Clerck and Malsagne; Picard's chronology dates Gemayel's rejection of the accord to the same day). Traboulsi's narrative gives 12 March 1986 instead. De Clerck and Malsagne put the dead at about 800, far above the 100 given here. Hobeika was flown out by army helicopter after an army mediation backed by the patriarch, was briefly exiled in France, then settled in Zahle under Syrian protection.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 12 March 1986
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September 1986
Friday, 12 September 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Another US national, James Cicippio was kidnapped on the AUB campus, therefore raising the number of Americans kidnapped to 6.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 9 September 1986
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August 1988
Tuesday, 16 August 1988
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The former 78 years old Chief of State, Sleiman Frangie, announces officially his candidacy for the presidential elections.
What the books addTwo days later, on 18 August 1988, the session convened at the Mansour Palace failed to reach a quorum (Hanf, p. 569).
Other date in the books: Thursday, 18 August 1988
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November 1988
Saturday, 12 November 1988
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Aoun's cabinet sends General Sami al-Khatib before the military court.
Aoun's cabinet referred Sami al-Khatib to the military court. Two days earlier Salim al-Hoss had made him, a Sunni, army commander, a post normally held by a Maronite, and Aoun's government had at once called it an attempt at partition. The army was split: about 15,000 men under Aoun, 12,000 under Hoss.
Sources differ: De Clerck dates al-Khatib's appointment to 10 November; existing entry 1105 gives 9 November; Hanf says early November.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 10 November 1988
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February 1989
Thursday, 16 February 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
An agreement on military disengagement is concluded between the Army and the L.F., within in a four-party committee.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne have a truce under the Maronite Patriarch's patronage from 17 February. Hanf says Aoun accepted a ceasefire once the militia agreed to hand over Dock Five of the port and the Bourbara checkpoint.
Other date in the books: Friday, 17 February 1989
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March 1989
Friday, 3 March 1989
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
General Aoun orders a naval blockade of the militia ports of Khalde, Jiyeh and Ouzai.
Aoun had the navy and helicopter units close Khalde, Jiyeh and Ouzai, ports the PSP and Amal had kept, though Syria had officially warned him off militias beyond his own area. Frangieh's Marada had given Selaata port to the army.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date the closure order to 6 March (see entry 1129).
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May 1989
Wednesday, 3 May 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Lakhdar Ibrahimi, General Secretary of the Arab League, arrives in Beirut looking to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
What the books addLakhdar Brahimi was Deputy (assistant) Secretary-General of the Arab League, not its Secretary-General. After the Casablanca summit he headed the troika's secretariat in Jeddah.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 23 May 1989
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June 1989
Monday, 12 June 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The EEC gives its full support to the committee composed by the three Chiefs of State (Algerian, Saudi Arabian, and Moroccan) constituted during the Casablanca Summit in order to find a solution to the Lebanese crisis.
What the books addThe committee was set up at the Arab summit in Casablanca, which opened on 23 May 1989 (Hanf).
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 23 May 1989
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August 1989
Tuesday, 15 August 1989
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Pope John Paul II publicly condemns Syria as an occupying power in Lebanon.
Pope John Paul II dropped the Vatican's neutrality: urging international intervention and Syria's withdrawal, he named Syria, with Israel, an occupying power. His widely reported statement came on 15 August 1989, the Assumption, two days after Souk el-Gharb.
Other date in the books: Sunday, 13 August 1989
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