75 entries on 69 dates · the books disagree on 15
dates 1–60 of 69 next
March 1975
Tuesday, 4 March 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Kataeb march in Beirut in support of the army.
On 4 March 1975 the Kataeb rallied in East Beirut for the army, which Muslim leaders and the Left blamed for the Sidon shooting. Hanf finds that rival pro- and anti-army marches helped brand the army a Christian instrument.
Sources differ: Picard places the march on the day after the Sidon demonstration.
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October 1975
Saturday, 4 October 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Interior Security Forces held in check a land attack against the Beirut International Airport where 4 armed men tried to kidnap an airplane in order to go to Cairo.
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Religious leaders meet at Bkerke and condemn the violence.
Lebanon's religious leaders, every community represented, jointly condemned the violence after a summit hosted by Patriarch Khuraych at Bkerke and continued at Dar al-Fatwa, seat of Mufti Hassan Khaled.
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January 1976
Sunday, 4 January 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The siege of Tal al-Za'tar camp begins.
Christian militias besieged Tal al-Za'tar, the Palestinian camp in East Beirut, until it fell on 12 August 1976.
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May 1976
September 1976
Saturday, 4 September 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Bleeding continued in the ports. Massive emigration went on in the same intensity. Hundreds of families flew every day by sea escaping from hell.
What the books addHistorians disagree on 1976: Haugbolle ranks it among the war's largest emigration waves, while de Clerck and Malsagne see many returning that year after nearly 400,000 Lebanese had left by 1975. Haugbolle notes that no official figures exist.
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December 1976
February 1977
Friday, 4 February 1977
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Government promulgated a decree concerning wartime conflicts between owners and renters.
The decree stipulated mainly that rent contracts remained operative, while backlogs will be staggered on 18 months with no interest for all rents under 5,000 Lebanese Pounds. As to destroyed properties, there were three possibilities: reconstruct, compensate the renters, or give them shares.
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June 1977
June 1978
October 1978
Wednesday, 4 October 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The bombardments reached Bikfaya and Beit-Mery while in East Beirut there was a shortage of food and medications. The Security Council called for the urgent ending of the combats.
What the books addAccording to de Clerck and Malsagne, the Security Council's call for a ceasefire came on 6 October.
Other date in the books: Friday, 6 October 1978
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November 1978
June 1979
October 1979
Thursday, 4 October 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A light earthquake shook the region of Saida without any victim.
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Minister of Foreign affairs, Fouad Boutros, called upon the United Nations to end Israeli aggressions in the South, to freeze the activities of the Fedayin, to reinforce the UNIFL, and to dissociate the Lebanese problem from the regional crisis.
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March 1980
Tuesday, 4 March 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The mutilated body of Selim Laouzi was found in the forests of Aramoun ten days after his kidnapping.
What the books addFisk reads the mutilation of al-Lawzi's body as a warning to the Lebanese press: the flesh of his writing hand had been removed, by knife or acid, and two shots fired into his neck from behind. A shepherd found him, half under snow, in the Aramoun woods on 5 March.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 5 March 1980
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June 1980
Wednesday, 4 June 1980
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Bashir Gemayel and President Sarkis meet in secret.
Bashir Gemayel and President Elias Sarkis, long at odds over Bashir's Kataeb militia, met quietly around noon. Sarkis said that he was resisting too, by his own means; Bashir wanted him to speak up for him with the American leadership. The ground had been laid by Johnny Abdo, head of army intelligence, and Bashir's adviser Zahi Boustani, who had struck up a rapport.
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July 1980
Friday, 4 July 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Artillery duels and armed confrontations continued between the Phalange Party and the NLP in the regions of Wadi-Chahrour, Betchay, Bsous,Kfarchima, and their surroundings. 16 persons were killed and 20 others wounded. The next day, the Lebanese army took in charge the areas of Wadi-Chahrour, Betchay, Bsous, Kfarchima, Bsaba, and Bleibel in the Southern-Metn, ending the conflict between the Phalange Party and the NLP in the region.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne list Wadi Chahrour and Kfarchima among the National Liberals' bases in Beirut's south-eastern suburbs and end the wave of clashes between Christian militias on 2 July 1980. Ménargues describes near-daily fighting in the second half of June. Bashir Gemayel settled the rivalry by force on 7 July.
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November 1980
Tuesday, 4 November 1980
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Walid Jumblatt meets a Lebanese Forces envoy at Johnny Abdo's home.
On the evening of the US presidential election, army intelligence chief Johnny Abdo hosted Walid Jumblatt and Bashir Gemayel's envoy Joseph Abou Khalil at his home in Yarze, with President Sarkis's blessing. Jumblatt accepted in principle a meeting with Gemayel, and the two sides agreed to start with talks between emissaries.
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February 1981
April 1981
Saturday, 4 April 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
An intensive bombardment in Zahleh killed 20 and injured 100.
What the books addMénargues dates a day of intensive shelling of Zahleh, with about twenty dead, to 6 April.
Other date in the books: Monday, 6 April 1981
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May 1981
Monday, 4 May 1981
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Reagan sends Philip Habib to the Middle East.
Reagan sent Philip Habib, a retired US diplomat of Lebanese descent, as special envoy to ease the Syrian–Israeli missile crisis; he spent months travelling between Jerusalem, Damascus, Riyadh and Beirut.
Sources differ: Ménargues implies Habib was expected in Damascus on 2 May, before de Clerck & Malsagne's date of 4 May for his dispatch.
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June 1981
Thursday, 4 June 1981
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Begin discloses Israel's promises to Lebanon's Christians.
Damascus denounced an 'alliance with the enemy' and West Beirut politicians protested after Begin, in a Knesset debate before the elections, revealed verbal pledges to Lebanon's Christians: he had met a 'delegation' on 28 August 1978 and on 2 April 1981 sent an emissary to renew his offer of help. The Vigilance Committee was summoned to Beiteddine.
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July 1981
Saturday, 4 July 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Arab Foreign Affairs Ministers met in Beiteddine. However, no concrete measure was taken, it was a total impasse.
What the books addMénargues lists the participants as Syrian foreign minister Abdel Halim Khaddam, the Arab League's representative and the Saudi and Kuwaiti ambassadors, Ali Chaër and Abdel Hamid Bouayajane. That day a general strike against the Syrian presence shut down the Christian regions.
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Ammunition depot explodes in Tariq al-Jdideh; general strike in the Christian areas.
In Tariq al-Jdideh, West Beirut, 7 people died and 51 were wounded when ammunition stored by the Organisation of Communist Action in a building's basement exploded. That day a general strike against the Syrian presence brought the Christian regions to a halt.
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September 1981
Friday, 4 September 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The French ambassador, Louis Delamare, was cowardly assassinated 100 meters away from the Résidence des Pins.
What the books addThe 59-year-old ambassador was shot in his locked car at about 1.55 p.m., some 60 metres from a Syrian checkpoint (Malsagne), while heading home near the Résidence des Pins. Malsagne blames a pro-Syrian Shiite commando; the next ambassador, Paul-Marc Henry, saw a botched kidnapping ordered by Iranian intelligence. France was then moving closer to the PLO.
Art and memory- place Louis Delamare was shot close to a Syrian checkpoint on his way back to his home near the Résidence des Pins, which stood on the front line. After his death the ambassador was given an armoured car, and from 1982 ambassadors no longer lived at the residence.
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December 1981
Friday, 4 December 1981
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Amal and pro-Iraqi Baathists fight in Moussaitbeh.
Amal militiamen and members of the pro-Iraqi Baath party fought each other with heavy weapons for three hours in the Moussaitbeh district of West Beirut.
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January 1982
Monday, 4 January 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The confrontations between Amal militiamen and 'Partisans of the Communist Organization in Lebanon' caused 11 deaths and 4 injuries in West Beirut. These fights resumed on January 6 didn't end until the intervention of the Arab Strike Force.
What the books addHanf describes the Shi'i Amal movement fighting the Iraqi-backed Arab Liberation Front and small communist organisations in West Beirut in the first months of 1982.
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February 1982
June 1982
Friday, 4 June 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Within an hour, the Israeli airplanes inflicted on Beirut the toughest bombing since the Fakahani attack in seven successive rounds. Sixty persons were killed and 270 injured in these air raids against the sectors of the Sports City, Sabra, Chatila, and Bourj Brajneh.
What the books addAbu Nidal's group, an enemy of the PLO leadership, had shot Shlomo Argov, Israel's ambassador in London, on the night of 3 June; Israel answered with the raids. Robert Fisk notes that the bombs hit a PLO arms dump in the old stadium near Fakhani and a Palestinian children's hospital by Sabra; Palestinian sources gave 50 dead, Lebanese officials 210 civilians. The original's 'Fakhani attack' is the Israeli raid of 17 July 1981.
Other dates in the books: Friday, 17 July 1981, Thursday, 3 June 1982
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July 1982
Sunday, 4 July 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Without renouncing to the diplomatic option, Israel toughened the pressure on Beirut, by depriving its inhabitants of water and electricity.
What the books addA US-backed Security Council resolution demanded that West Beirut's water and power be restored; Lebanon's minister of hydroelectric resources called the Israeli step 'inhuman'. Fisk dates the cut to early on 5 July, when Israel switched off electricity and water and barred food, having reduced power since the third week of June. Ménargues describes a further cut on 26 July.
Other dates in the books: Monday, 5 July 1982, Monday, 26 July 1982
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August 1982
Wednesday, 4 August 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
West Beirut was violently bombed. President Elias Sarkis addressed a protest letter to the US President Ronald Reagan.
What the books addFisk: on 4 August Israeli tanks crossed at the museum and 13 Israeli soldiers died by shellfire near the airport. Israeli shells and bombs hit the Wadi Abu Jamil synagogue, refugees in Sanayeh park, the prime minister's office, hotels, newspaper offices and hospitals.
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September 1982
October 1982
February 1983
March 1983
April 1983
September 1983
Sunday, 4 September 1983
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Taking the Lebanese authorities by surprise, the Israeli Army began its withdrawal from the Chouf and Aley leaving face to face the militia of the PSP and the LF in a merciless battle. The combats raged mainly around Bhamdoun, Souk El Gharb and Kabr Chmoun. A dramatic situation unfolded in the mountain where thousands of people were forced out of their homes. 30 000 people found temporary shelter in Deir El Kamar. The rehousing of the displaced persons caused a complicated problem for the officials.
What the books addThe Lebanese army had under 24 hours' warning, Fisk writes, before Israeli troops began leaving Aley and the Chouf on the evening of 3 September; by the morning of the 4th they had gone. De Clerck and Malsagne count more than 10,000 Christians from over 60 villages sheltering in Deir el-Qamar.
Art and memory- place Two died at Qabr Chmoun, one of the battlefields named here, on 30 June 2019, when Jumblatt supporters opposing Gebran Bassil's visit attacked a Druze minister. Bassil's speeches on the 1983 Mountain War were blamed; the crisis eased on 10 August.
- book Paul Andary's Harb al-jabal, al-haqiqa la tarham (The Mountain War: the truth does not forgive) was self-published in Beirut in 1983 and has been reissued several times.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 3 September 1983
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Massacre of Druze villagers at Kfarmatta.
On 4 September the Lebanese Forces took Kfarmatta, a mixed village above the sea, killing over a hundred of its Druze and holding 150 to 200 Druze civilians hostage. Clark Todd, a Canadian television reporter wounded there, died in the village.
Sources differ: 107 dead (de Clerck and Malsagne) or 110 (villagers interviewed by Fisk in 1984). De Clerck and Malsagne date the hostage-taking to 4-5 September.
Art and memory- memorial His widow dedicated a memorial in their Hatfield parish church to him and 'all victims of terrorism'. Five months after he died, French TV found in Kfarmatta the pillowcase bearing his last message home.
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November 1983
Friday, 4 November 1983
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Participants in the Geneva conference asked President Gemayel to undertake an Arab and occidental tour in order to attempt solving the problem of the May 17 agreement.
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A car bomb exploded next to the Israeli headquarters in Tyr causing 29 deaths and 29 injured. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for this killing attempt.
What the books addFisk puts the Tyre bombing's dead at 60, Israelis and Shin Bet prisoners together, and says some Israeli intelligence officers had known of plans against the building at least eleven months earlier.
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December 1983
Sunday, 4 December 1983
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Syrian anti-air defense shut down two American airplanes and a pilot was captured. The positions of the Marines at the Beirut International Airport were bombarded. Eight Marines were killed. The American President was angry: 'We will retaliate if we are attacked again'.
What the books addUS aircraft struck Syrian positions on 4 December. Fisk counts one plane brought down, with the pilot dead and the co-pilot taken prisoner (Jesse Jackson obtained his release in January 1984); Hanf counts two planes lost. Hanf also places, without a date, the deaths of eight Marines from Syrian artillery fire in the same episode.
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January 1984
Wednesday, 4 January 1984
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A double Israeli raid in the region of Baalbeck caused tens of victims and buried many persons under the debris. In Beirut, the electric power was severely rationed by the EDL due to damaged installations in the Iqlim El Kharroub. The acts of resistance against the Israeli occupation continued in South Lebanon. Until the end of 1984, not a single day passed without one, two or three killing attempts perpetrated against Israeli troops or the local militias that they created.
What the books addCounts of attacks on the Israeli army vary by source and period: Fisk reports 15 ambushes a week on average by February 1984 and a hundred attacks in December 1984; de Clerck and Malsagne put suicide attacks at about a hundred a month in 1984.
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April 1984
Wednesday, 4 April 1984
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The retired General Antoine Lahd took his functions as head of the South Lebanon Army (SLA) created and financed by Israel. This new militia replaced Saad Haddad's Army of Free Lebanon. Artillery duels continued in Beirut and in the mountain, making the month of April one of the worst months in the Lebanese crisis. In Tripoli, the confrontations between the Islamic Unification Movement and the Arab Democratic Party continued violently for several months.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne date the name 'South Lebanon Army' to April 1985; in 1984 Lahad took over Haddad's existing militia. Hanf says he was a Maronite general from the Chouf, close to Chamoun; de Clerck and Malsagne say he came from Kfar Qatra and had headed army intelligence. Hanf confirms that fighting in Tripoli flared again in 1984.
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July 1984
Wednesday, 4 July 1984
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Army was deployed in Greater Beirut. The crossing points were reopened, thus unifying the Eastern and Western sectors of the Capital.
What the books addHanf gives 3 July 1984 for the security plan's entry into force; this entry and entry 725 use 4 July. Hanf adds that the Green Line barricades were cleared at the end of July.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 3 July 1984
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September 1984
Tuesday, 4 September 1984
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Joseph Hachem was appointed Minister of Health and Posts and Telecommunications in replacement of Pierre Gemayel. Malek Salam was appointed president of the Council for Development and Reconstruction. The mandate of Michel El Khoury, Governor of the Central Bank, was extended.
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January 1985
Friday, 4 January 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A commission was created, including the Lebanese Front, the Progressive Socialist Party, Amal, the Syrian Nationalist Party, and parents of the hostages. The crossing points between the two sectors of the capital were reopened while the plan for the Iqlim was halted because of the conflict between the Progressive Socialist Party and the Lebanese Front.
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February 1985
Monday, 4 February 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Nothing could stop the dollar from rising. For the first time, the green bill was exchanged for over 15 Pounds on the Beirut stock market while the French Franc was quoted at 1.55 Pounds. The Lebanese authorities requested help from Saudi Arabia and asked Rafic Hariri to intercede with King Fahd to grant Lebanon 500 million dollars to boost the economy.
What the books addAnnual figures: the pound fell to about 16 to the dollar in 1985 against 6.5 in 1984, with retail inflation of about 70 per cent (Hanf, citing Abou Rjaily and Labaki); de Clerck and Malsagne put the 1985 devaluation at 150 per cent. Hanf notes that rumours of large PLO deposits briefly strengthened the pound in early 1985.
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March 1985
Monday, 4 March 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A bomb attack against the Husseiniyeh in Maarakeh killed 11 persons, including two leaders of the Amal movement, and wounded 28 others.
What the books addOn 4 March 1985, a day after an Israeli raid, a bomb on the roof of the resistance office above Maarakeh's mosque killed Khalil Jerardi, nominally Amal but a Hezbollah supporter, and Mohammed Saad, an Amal commander in the south. French UN officers who examined it believed the departing Israelis had left it (Fisk's report, not an established finding).
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September 1985
Wednesday, 4 September 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
14 dead and 74 injured persons were reported in Zahleh as a result of a car bomb explosion. Three days later, the Syrians invaded the town.
What the books addSyrian troops entered Zahleh on 7 September after the Lebanese Forces' withdrawal (Hanf).
Other date in the books: Sunday, 11 August 1985
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March 1986
April 1986
Friday, 4 April 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The 45 French observers in charge of observing the dividing lines in Beirut and in the Mountain, left Lebanon. Their departure was probably due to political changes in France.
What the books addHanf cites the observers' heavy casualties and a ceasefire nobody respected, which left them nothing to do.
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July 1986
September 1986
Thursday, 4 September 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The war against Westerners had new targets now. It was the turn of UNIFL soldiers to be aggressed. Three French Blue Helmets were killed in Jouaya in South Lebanon. The UN Security Council called for urgent security measures in favor of the UNIFL.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 23 September 1986
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March 1987
May 1987
Monday, 4 May 1987
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Prime Minister Rachid Karameh announced his resignation but refused to give a written resignation to the Head of State
What the books addBefore resigning, Karami had seen the cabinet reconvene in April to deal with the economic crisis, after months in which the Muslim ministers' boycott of Gemayel had kept it from meeting. Hanf treats his call to open the presidency to every community as the start of the contest for the 1988 presidential election.
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October 1987
January 1988
February 1988
Thursday, 4 February 1988
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The emissary of President Amine Gemayel, Elie Salem, meets with the Secretary of State George Schultz in Washington in the presence of the Sub-Secretary for the Middle East Affairs, Richard Murphy.
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May 1988
Wednesday, 4 May 1988
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The affair of the three last French hostages has a happy ending. Marcel Fontaine, Marcel Carton and Jean-Paul Kauffman, detained for three years by the Islamic Jihad, are finally released. Michel Seurat, dead one year after he was made captive, wasn't as lucky.
What the books addJean-Charles Marchiani, the secret negotiator, later confirmed a Franco-Iranian bargain, suspected when the hostages were freed four days before the presidential run-off (de Clerck and Malsagne, p. 411).
Art and memory- testimony Jean-Paul Kauffmann wrote at length of his three years in captivity in L'Evenement du Jeudi (12-18 May 1988); Fisk judges it the most harrowing account by any Beirut hostage.
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August 1988
October 1988
Tuesday, 4 October 1988
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese Forces announced an agreement on the unification of the forces in the East and took for the first time since 1975 control of the Northern Metn (barracks, offices, military positions), region considered as the fief of the former president Amine Gemayel.
What the books addHanf (p. 248, note 116) confirms that the Kataeb militia of the Metn kept some autonomy until October 1988; the Lebanese Forces took over Gemayel's institutions, such as the Maison du Futur and the daily Le Réveil (p. 613, note 4).
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April 1989
Tuesday, 4 April 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
During a moving ceremony in the Lebanese embassy in Paris, 862 French apply for the Lebanese nationality.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne do not mention the ceremony, but they record a rally outside the Lebanese embassy in Paris that day: more than 2,000 people, brought together by Frédérique Deniau under the slogan 'We are all Lebanese', among them Jean d'Ormesson, Françoise Giroud, Abbé Pierre, André Glucksmann and Claude Mauriac.
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November 1989
Saturday, 4 November 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
At the last minute, the deputies decided not to return to Lebanon to meet with general Aoun. At 5 o'clock in the morning, Aoun decided to dissolve the Chamber and asked the members of parliament to adjourn their vote.
What the books addHanf dates Aoun's dissolution, by Decree 420, to 4 November, with elections set for January 1990; Traboulsi places it in September 1989. Raymond Eddé held the decree constitutional; Georges Vedel, the French jurist consulted by Speaker Husseini, found that an interim government could not dissolve parliament.
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December 1989
Monday, 4 December 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Violent combats between Amal and the Hezbollah in the West of the Bekaa end with the expulsion of Amal from the villages in the region.
What the books addThe books place the renewed Amal-Hezbollah fighting of December 1989 in Iqlim al-Touffah, east of Sidon. Hanf says it started after Hezbollah fighters from the Bekaa crossed the zone held by the South Lebanon Army.
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dates 1–60 of 69 next
