51 entries on 49 dates · the books disagree on 51
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.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Saturday, 8 March 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Assad calls for a joint Syrian-Palestinian command.
Assad publicly called for Syria and the Palestinians to unite their political and military leadership. Hanf relates Syria's acceptance of Arafat's proposal for a joint supreme command to Egypt's drift towards a separate arrangement with Israel.
Sources differ: Ménargues says the PLO met the call with silence; Hanf says Syria accepted an offer from Arafat.
\_this day in full \_on this day
October 1975
Tuesday, 21 October 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Kamal El Assad was reelected president of the Chamber by 47 votes against one. At the same time, Beirut was still under fire and the list of victims, whether kidnapped, executed, or shot by snipers or mortar shells, kept growing.
Other date in the books: Monday, 20 October 1975
\_this day in full \_on this day
December 1975
Monday, 8 December 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Murabitun overrun Kataeb positions in the hotels.
On 8 December the Kataeb lost the Phoenicia and St Georges and were pushed back to Martyrs' Square by a Murabitun offensive, backed by Palestinian groups, on their downtown and hotel-district positions. According to Traboulsi, an army move on 9 December to retake the two hotels brought the Palestinian organisations more directly into the fighting.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 9 December 1975
\_this day in full \_on this day
January 1976
Wednesday, 21 January 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books 21-22 January
Army helicopters and boats evacuate Jiyeh but not Damour or Saadiyat.
Damour and Saadiyat, defended only by National Liberal Party militiamen, were not evacuated, while on 21 and 22 January army helicopters and boats took refugees from neighbouring Jiyeh to Jounieh.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 20 January 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Ta'labaya, near Zahleh, falls to the PLA.
Bishop Yuhanna Bassul of Zahleh's diary records the dawn fall of Ta'labaya, a Bekaa village, to a surprise assault by the Palestine Liberation Army and Yarmouk brigades, and the forced departure of its Christians.
Sources differ: Hanf (p. 210) dates a Palestinian seizure of Ta'labaya, with its people expelled, to December 1975; de Clerck and Malsagne (p. 154) record 35 killed there from that month.
\_this day in full \_on this day
March 1976
Sunday, 21 March 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The ' Holiday Inn ' occupied by the Phalange Party fell in the hands of the Mourabitun and their allies.
According to some sources, the Phalange Party succeeded in evacuating some of its militiamen who took with them seven dead bodies, three of which were young girls. According to other sources, 65 militiamen were able to run away using an underground passage. The Holiday Inn had been subject to repeated assaults for the past ten months.
What the books addMourabitoun and Palestinian fighters, backed by Lebanese Arab Army artillery, took the 24-storey Holiday Inn after a fight waged floor by floor, day and night, from 20 to 22 March 1976 (Traboulsi dates the fall to 22 March). The Kataeb withdrew to the Fattal building near the port. The five-month Battle of the Hotels was over, and Beirut was split along the Green Line.
Art and memory- novel Rabee Jaber's novel Birds of the Holiday Inn (2011) is set around the hotel during the battles for downtown Beirut.
- photograph In November 2002 Haugbolle photographed the ruined Holiday Inn behind a huge banner of the Roman temple at Baalbek; the picture illustrates his discussion of nostalgia.
- novel George Shami's documentary novel What Is Left of the Fighting (Madha baqa min al-qital, 2003) followed young militiamen through the 1976 hotels battle.
Other dates in the books: Saturday, 20 March 1976, Monday, 22 March 1976
\_this day in full \_on this day
January 1977
Friday, 21 January 1977
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Lebanese Front's seminar defines Lebanon as a 'plurality of civilisations'.
Lebanese Front leaders met in seminar at the Sayyidat al-Bir convent. They discussed partition, dismissed the independence-era institutions as outdated and called Lebanon a set of 'civilisational groups'. The Front also issued constitutional reform proposals.
Sources differ: Original entry 110 dates a three-day Lebanese 'Forces' seminar at Broumana to 23 January; it may be the same meeting.
\_this day in full \_on this day
February 1978
Wednesday, 8 February 1978
The Lebanese war · Added from the books range (about 8-14 February)
Fighting spreads from Fayadiyeh to East Beirut.
About a hundred people died when Syrian guns hit Badaro, Ain el-Remmaneh and Karm el-Zeitoun, as the Fayadiyeh clash spread the next day to Beirut's Christian districts. National Liberal Party and Kataeb fighters attacked Syrian positions; Syrian troops in Achrafieh's Rizk Tower shelled the eastern suburbs, and artillery struck the army headquarters at Yarze.
Sources differ: Depends on the date of the Fayadiyeh clash: 7 February (de Clerck and Malsagne), 8 February (Hanf) or 17 February (Ménargues). Duration three days (de Clerck and Malsagne) or about a week (Hanf).
\_this day in full \_on this day
March 1978
Tuesday, 21 March 1978
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Israel announces a ceasefire in the south; Operation Litani ends.
Fisk puts the cost of Operation Litani at as many as 2,000 Lebanese and Palestinian dead and 20 Israelis. On 21 March, its last day, Israel announced a ceasefire, but its guns shelled Tyre from nine that morning; it held the south up to the Litani except the Tyre pocket.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 14 March 1978
\_this day in full \_on this day
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
\_this day in full \_on this day
Sunday, 8 October 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Residents of Achrafieh stepped out of their shelters only to realize the magnitude of the damages. Despite the respect of the cease-fire agreed upon by Presidents Elias Sarkis and Hafez Assad, the region was still under blockade.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne date the end of the shelling to 7 October. On that day President Sarkis asked in public for the Arab Deterrent Force's mandate, due to lapse on 28 October, to be extended, and Syria maintained its blockade until the renewal.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 7 October 1978
\_this day in full \_on this day
January 1980
Monday, 21 January 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese army projected to deploy in South Lebanon while Israel was strongly opposed to this project.
What the books addDeploying the army, Sarkis insisted on his return from an Arab meeting at Ta'if in February 1980, should come before political reform (Traboulsi). Amal and the Phalange newspaper al-Amal also called for the army to be sent south (Traboulsi; Hanf).
Other date in the books: Thursday, 20 March 1980
\_this day in full \_on this day
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
\_this day in full \_on this day
July 1980
Tuesday, 8 July 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Phalangist militiamen launched an assault against all the NLP's offices and barracks in Achrafieh, on the coast, in Jbeil, in the Kesrouan, and in the Metn. The most murderous combats took place in Acharfieh, Amchit, and especially Safra where the domicile of the NLP defense secretary, Dany Chamoun, was burned. Chamoun's daughter was injured. He flew to Fakra and announced his resignation. The Phalangists continued their attack and reached Fakra where they dynamited Chamoun's home. He flew again to Baskinta. He went back later to Yarze on board of an army helicopter, along with Amine Gemayel. The Phalange Party controlled therefore all NLP's offices and barracks.
What the books addHistorians date the assault to 7 July 1980 (Ménargues, de Clerck and Malsagne, Hanf, Traboulsi, Picard). At dawn Bashir Gemayel's units struck National Liberal offices and barracks throughout the Christian region, the Safra Marine resort north of Jounieh among them, under strict orders to spare Camille and Dany Chamoun and their families. That evening he proposed merging the militias into the Lebanese Forces under his command; Dany Chamoun left for exile the next day. Estimates of the dead range from about 70 (Ménargues) to 150-200, mostly civilians (Traboulsi; de Clerck and Malsagne give about 150, including 83 Tigers). Ménargues says Bashir code-named the operation 'Altalena'.
Other date in the books: Monday, 7 July 1980
\_this day in full \_on this day
December 1980
Sunday, 21 December 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The situation worsened in Zahleh under heavy bombardments. These confrontations between Zahliotes and soldiers from the Arab Strike Force continued until December 26 when a cease-fire eased the tension.
What the books addThe crisis began on 20 December when Elias Hannouche, a former Tiger commander backed by Syria, seized the old National Liberal office in Zahle. After an ambush inside the town killed five Syrian soldiers on 22 December, Syrian artillery opened fire on it (Ménargues; Hanf counts an officer and five soldiers). De Clerck and Malsagne date the bombardment to 21 December and call it the first round of the battle of Zahle. Most of the former Tigers then joined the Lebanese Forces, and Syrian troops stayed positioned around the town until the siege of spring 1981.
Other dates in the books: Saturday, 20 December 1980, Monday, 22 December 1980
\_this day in full \_on this day
January 1981
Thursday, 8 January 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Arab Strike Force withdrew from Zahleh.
What the books addAfter the December 1980 clashes in Zahleh, Syrian troops gave up their checkpoints inside the town but kept it under blockade (Hanf). Ménargues, however, says ADF checkpoints were still on the town's main roads when Lebanese Forces fighters seized them in the first days of April 1981.
Other dates in the books: Monday, 22 December 1980, Thursday, 2 April 1981
\_this day in full \_on this day
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
\_this day in full \_on this day
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.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Friday, 8 May 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The American envoy Philip Habib began his talks at the Baabda Palace.
What the books addMénargues writes that Habib came from Damascus by road on the evening of 7 May, Beirut airport being closed. De Clerck and Malsagne date Reagan's dispatch of Habib to 4 May.
Other date in the books: Monday, 4 May 1981
\_this day in full \_on this day
June 1981
Monday, 8 June 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Arab Vigilance Committee, ending its meetings in Beiteddine, took note of all the parties' commitment to respect the cease-fire on the Lebanese territory. On the other hand, the Committee announced that it would meet again on June 23 in Saudi Arabia and on July 4 in Beiteddine.
What the books addThe meeting was called after Begin told the Knesset on 4 June of his promises to Lebanon's Christians. The Arab envoys asked Bashir Gemayel to break with Israel; he demanded guarantees in return (Hanf, Ménargues).
Other date in the books: Thursday, 4 June 1981
\_this day in full \_on this day
July 1981
Wednesday, 8 July 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The chief of State Elias Sarkis, met with Bechir Gemayel and Pierre Gemayel. He announced after the meeting that he was given guarantees concerning the rupture of the relations with Israel.
What the books addBashir Gemayel's pledge took the form of a letter to President Sarkis dated 6 July, which Sarkis never published (Ménargues).
Other date in the books: Monday, 6 July 1981
\_this day in full \_on this day
Tuesday, 21 July 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While the bombardment continued in South Lebanon, the Security Council ordered a cease-fire; but the latter wasn't observed despite the presence of the US envoy Philip Habib in the region.
What the books addMénargues dates to 22 July Reagan's indefinite freeze on F-16 deliveries to Israel and a unanimous Security Council call for an immediate cease-fire, which Arafat accepted at once.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 22 July 1981
\_this day in full \_on this day
April 1982
Wednesday, 21 April 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Six successive raids were reported within 90 minutes against Aramoun, Naameh and Damour, putting an end to a cease-fire that lasted 9 months. This new aggression claimed the lives of 80 victims.
What the books addFisk, on the coast road when it began, dates the Damour raid to 22 April: Israeli jets struck for over two hours, killing at least 19 Palestinians; Israel cited the death of a soldier on a mine in the south. For Fisk it previewed the invasion.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 22 April 1982
\_this day in full \_on this day
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
\_this day in full \_on this day
Tuesday, 8 June 1982
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Menachem Begin visits Beaufort castle and hands it over to Saad Haddad.
Begin visited Beaufort, the crusader castle taken by Israeli troops after fierce resistance at the start of the invasion, and presented it as a symbol that the Palestinian presence in the south was finished. The cabinet in Jerusalem authorised Sharon to push north and cut the Beirut–Damascus road.
Other date in the books: Sunday, 6 June 1982
\_this day in full \_on this day
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
\_this day in full \_on this day
November 1982
Monday, 8 November 1982
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Massacre at Kfar Nabrakh in the Chouf, the first of the 'Mountain War'.
PSP fighters attacked a Christian funeral at this mixed village after the Lebanese Forces set up a checkpoint nearby, leaving eleven dead and eleven wounded. They also kidnapped nine villagers, a child and two teenagers among them, and burned about twenty houses; the captives were found dead in a well on 23 November, raising the Christian toll to twenty. LF leaders and press then invoked the 1860 massacres against the Druze.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 23 November 1982
\_this day in full \_on this day
August 1983
Sunday, 21 August 1983
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The first signs of an imminent Israeli redeployment in the south of the Awali river multiplied. Lebanon urged the United States to intervene in order to delay this initiative.
What the books addIsrael announced the pullback on 20 July. On 16 August Moshe Arens told Gemayel in East Beirut that Israel would leave the mountains even if the fighting had not stopped, and he announced a withdrawal for 15 September. According to de Clerck and Malsagne, the United States tried without success to dissuade Israel.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 16 August 1983
\_this day in full \_on this day
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.
\_this day in full \_on this day
February 1984
Wednesday, 8 February 1984
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The ' New Jersey ', the most powerful battleship in the world from the 6 US fleet, bombed for several hours anti-governmental positions in the mountain.
What the books addDruze militiamen in Tibiyat, east of Beirut, visited by Fisk on 13 February, said the New Jersey's shelling of the Metn and Chouf foothills had killed 24 civilians and wounded 115 (their figures). De Clerck and Malsagne note the ship's frequent misses and its Arabic nickname 'New Jersa' ('new shame').
Art and memory- testimony On 13 February 1984 Fisk heard survivors in the Druze village of Tibiyat describe the New Jersey's shelling; his own archive held a large fragment of one of its shells.
Other date in the books: Monday, 13 February 1984
\_this day in full \_on this day
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
\_this day in full \_on this day
January 1985
Tuesday, 8 January 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The security plan for the coastal road and the Iqlim El Kharroub was finally put into execution. The Internal Security Forces started their deployment in these regions.
What the books addHanf dates the army's advance to 9 January 1985, the day he says the Israelis began to pull back. In his account the plan, agreed with Walid Jumblatt, the Sidon Nasserites and the region's Christian deputies, sent a mainly Muslim battalion into the Iqlim al-Kharroub and the Sidon hinterland.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 9 January 1985
\_this day in full \_on this day
March 1985
Friday, 8 March 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A mass killing took place in Bir El Abed. A car bomb killed 62 persons and wounded 200 others, including a large number of women, children and elderly persons.
What the books addSheikh Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, the target, escaped with his bodyguard Imad Mughniyeh. Fisk dates the car bomb to 9 March and writes of more than 80 dead, nearly all civilians, citing the Washington Post on CIA involvement. De Clerck and Malsagne give 80 dead and 256 wounded and cite confessions by local agents, traced by Hezbollah, that the CIA commissioned it with Mossad help and Saudi funds.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 9 March 1985
\_this day in full \_on this day
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
\_this day in full \_on this day
March 1986
Saturday, 8 March 1986
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Four Antenne 2 journalists are kidnapped in Beirut's southern suburbs.
The Revolutionary Justice Organisation claimed the abduction of a four-man crew from the French television channel Antenne 2.
Sources differ: Entry 905 (Text field) gives 9 March; entry 965 gives 21 June.
\_this day in full \_on this day
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
\_this day in full \_on this day
October 1986
Tuesday, 21 October 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Hussein Husseini was reelected Speaker of the National Assembly. A seventh US national, Edward Tracy was kidnapped in West Beirut.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 9 September 1986
\_this day in full \_on this day
July 1988
Friday, 8 July 1988
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Bourj al-Barajneh camp falls to Abu Musa's forces.
After some 70 days of fighting, Syrian-backed Fatah dissidents took Bourj al-Barajneh, the last base Arafat held in Beirut. The Lebanese Internal Security Forces escorted his fighters to Ain al-Hilweh, outside Sidon; Syria now controlled the Beirut camps.
Sources differ: De Clerck's chapter 2 says 'early July' and 'ten days' after Chatila fell at the end of June; his chronology and Hanf give 8 July.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 28 June 1988
\_this day in full \_on this day
May 1990
Tuesday, 8 May 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Lebanese Forces shell the Military Academy; its commander, General François Zein, is mortally wounded.
Lebanese Forces guns deliberately and repeatedly shelled the Military Academy, killing its commander, General François Zein, the most senior officer to die in the war. De Clerck and Malsagne see the army, with many Muslim officers and cadets, as a symbol of national unity and a prime target for the militia, whose 'military school' at Ghosta was losing Christian cadets to it.
Sources differ: Entry 1195 on the same day records Aoun closing the roads to Lebanese Forces areas.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Monday, 21 May 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
A Vatican-mediated ceasefire between the army and the Lebanese Forces takes effect.
A Vatican-mediated ceasefire took effect between Aoun's army and the Lebanese Forces. Mutual exhaustion held it; their hatred did not abate, and the Christian enclave stayed divided between them through the summer.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date the truce to 26 May. Accounts of when the war ended differ: March (Quéméner), May (Traboulsi, Fisk), July (Picard).
Other date in the books: Saturday, 26 May 1990
\_this day in full \_on this day
August 1990
Tuesday, 21 August 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The second Lebanese Republic was born and the National Assembly approved with a majority of 48 deputies the constitutional reforms included in the Taef agreement. However, General Aoun continued to contest the legality of the Chamber.
What the books addSources disagree on the dates. Hanf dates the parliamentary vote (48 for, 1 against, 2 abstentions out of 51 deputies) to 26 August 1990 and its promulgation by President Hrawi to 21 September 1990. De Clerck and Malsagne, and Picard, give 21 September as the date the constitutional law was adopted. Haugbolle says parliament approved the Taif Agreement in August 1990. Traboulsi's postscript gives '21 September' but places it in 1991, probably by mistake. The vote started the Taif timetable: six months to disband the militias, and two years before Syrian troops withdrew to the Bekaa. Aoun called it a comedy, arguing that parliament had been dissolved.
Other dates in the books: Sunday, 26 August 1990, Friday, 21 September 1990
\_this day in full \_on this day
September 1990
Friday, 21 September 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
President Hrawi promulgates the amended Constitution of the Second Republic.
Hrawi promulgated the revised Constitution, with the Taif reforms written in, and announced on air that it would found the Second Republic. Three ex-army commanders then urged Aoun's soldiers to accept General Lahoud's authority; some officers did.
Sources differ: Hanf calls 21 September the promulgation, after a vote on 26 August; de Clerck and Malsagne and Picard call it the adoption. Entry 1204 dates the vote to 21 August.
\_this day in full \_on this day
October 1990
Sunday, 21 October 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The leader of the National Liberal Party, Dany Chamoun, his wife Ingrid and his two kids Tarek and Julian were savagely assassinated in there home in Baabda.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne count the murder of Dany Chamoun, his wife and two of their children as the last act of violence between Christian factions. The place is given as Baabda (Confluences) or 'his east Beirut home' (Fisk). Chamoun had backed Aoun, though critically, and was opposed to Syria's presence. Hanf notes that many blamed Syria, but judges that killing a whole family suggests a militia vendetta; Fisk likens it to the Phalangists' earlier killing of Tony Frangieh, his wife and baby. Samir Geagea was later tried for the murder (Picard).
Other date in the books: Saturday, 13 October 1990
\_this day in full \_on this day
January 1993
Monday, 4 January 1993
After the war · From the books
A Ministry for the Displaced and a central fund are created.
Laws 190 and 193 created the ministry and a fund to pay for the return of the displaced, most of them Christians forced out of the Mountain. Walid Jumblatt, whose forces had driven out many of them, ran the ministry from 1992 to 1998.
Sources differ: 1992 (Haugbolle; Picard: minister from October 1992) or 4 January 1993 (de Clerck, Abou Jaoudé, citing the laws). The portfolio may predate the founding laws.
\_this day in full \_on this day
March 2005
Tuesday, 8 March 2005
Since 2005 · From the books
Hezbollah and Amal rally in central Beirut to thank Syria.
Hezbollah and Amal brought a huge crowd into central Beirut to thank Syria and to reject Western interference. Addressing it, Hassan Nasrallah credited Syria with keeping Lebanon stable and warned against foreign meddling. The pro-Syrian '8 March' camp took its name from the day.
Sources differ: Crowd size: about 800,000 (Abirached; Khayat) against 400,000 (Quéméner). De Clerck & Malsagne call it the first mass demonstration, whereas Khayat places it the day after the opposition's third Monday rally.
\_this day in full \_on this day
August 2006
Friday, 4 August 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
Farm workers are killed at al-Qaa on the Syrian border.
An Israeli air strike on al-Qaa, near Hermel by the Syrian border, killed over thirty farm labourers, mostly Syrians, harvesting and packing vegetables.
Sources differ: Place: Lebanese village of al-Qaa (Daher; archive) against 'the Syrian side of the border' (34 Days). Toll: 33 (Daher), 34 (34 Days).
Reports at the time: The archive locates the strike in al-Qaa, at a refrigerated container and the Lebanese customs compound, with tolls rising from five to 26 and 34, mostly Syrian workers; nothing places it inside Syria.
The reports of that day, as they came in
\_this day in full \_on this day
May 2008
Wednesday, 21 May 2008
Since 2005 · From the books
The Doha agreement ends the crisis.
Talks in Doha under Qatari and Arab League mediation ended the fighting. The parties undertook to elect a president at once, renounce political violence, lift the opposition sit-in, form a unity government with an opposition blocking third and redraw constituencies for 2009. Hezbollah's weapons went unmentioned.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne's narrative (pp. 462-463) has 21 May; their chronology (p. 578) has 25 May, combining the Doha accord with Sleiman's election.
\_this day in full \_on this day
August 2020
Tuesday, 4 August 2020
Since 2005 · From the books
Explosion at the port of Beirut.
More than 240 people were killed and thousands injured when a massive explosion destroyed Beirut's port and devastated much of the city, already reeling from financial collapse and Covid-19.
Sources differ: Deaths: more than 240 in the chronology; 244, with over 6,500 injured, in the introduction, which cites a 2022 article naming the victims.
\_this day in full \_on this day
