77 entries on 70 dates · the books disagree on 77
dates 1–60 of 70 next
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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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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June 1975
Friday, 6 June 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Musa al-Sadr announces the Amal movement.
Musa al-Sadr made the founding of Amal public. He already had armed men, as a blast at a Fatah training camp near Baalbek showed soon afterwards.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date Amal's creation to July 1975 (its public revelation by the explosion of 5 July).
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September 1975
Sunday, 14 September 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Massacre at Beit Millat in Akkar.
Most of Akkar's Christians left for the predominantly Christian regions after gunmen overran and looted Beit Millat, a Maronite village of Akkar, and shot many of its people.
Sources differ: The attackers were Saiqa and Syrian militias (Tegho Bou Nassif) or Sunnis of Akkar (Hanf). About ten dead, or 'a large part' of the village.
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December 1975
Saturday, 6 December 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Pierre Gemayel visits Damascus.
At Assad's invitation, Pierre Gemayel took a Kataeb delegation to Damascus to set out his ideas for a new National Pact, the party's first visit there since the war began. Black Saturday took place in Beirut that day.
Sources differ: Fisk says it was Bashir Gemayel who was in Damascus.
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Monday, 22 December 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Thousands of armed elements attempted to invade Zahleh
The army riposted and hundreds of shells, mortars and rockets, fell on the Town. Simultaneously, bloody fights were reported in Tripoli.
What the books addBishop Yuhanna Bassul's diary records 500 shells hitting Zahleh on the night of 22 December, with some 15,000 fedayeen gathered in the plain; at his appeal the army's Maghawir commando regiment came to help. Hanf writes that 3,000 men of the PLA's Yarmouk Brigade had entered from Syria on 20 December and besieged the town, which Syrian positions also shelled.
Art and memory- testimony Bishop Yuhanna Bassul of Zahleh kept a regular, detailed diary of the 1975-1976 war, issued by the Greek Catholic diocese in two volumes; most dated Zahleh events here come from it.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 20 December 1975
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January 1976
Wednesday, 14 January 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Christian militias take the Dbayeh camp.
Militiamen of the National Liberal Party's Tigers and the Phalange took Dbayeh, a Palestinian camp north of Beirut whose refugees were mostly Christian, and expelled its people. Traboulsi and de Clerck and Malsagne treat it as the Christian militias' first drive to purge their territory of Palestinian and Muslim pockets.
Sources differ: Traboulsi gives 13 January.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 13 January 1976
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Thursday, 22 January 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While the Palestine Liberation Army controlled the Akkar and the Bekaa with the exception of Zahleh, a cease-fire was concluded under the aegis of Syria.
What the books addTraboulsi, de Clerck and Malsagne, and Yara El Khoury date the Syrian-mediated cease-fire to 23 January. PLA and Saiqa units attacked Zgharta in the north but were repulsed, and Zahleh, besieged, held out.
Other date in the books: Friday, 23 January 1976
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February 1976
Saturday, 14 February 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Frangieh announces the 'Constitutional Document'.
Laws would need both the president's and the premier's signatures, parliament would elect the premier, Christians and Muslims would share its seats equally, and the three top posts stayed with the same communities: so ran the Constitutional Document agreed in Damascus, which Frangieh issued as a new National Pact. The Kataeb approved it; Kamal Jumblatt and the National Movement opposed it for confirming the sectarian system.
Sources differ: Traboulsi's chronology dates the declaration to 7 February, the day of the Damascus trip; Hanf, de Clerck and Malsagne and Yara El Khoury give 14 February. De Clerck and Malsagne (p. 296) also write that the Christian camp accepted the Document 'from 21 January', before its publication.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 7 February 1976
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August 1976
Friday, 6 August 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Christian militias take Nabaa; its Shi'i population leaves.
Christian militias occupied the Shi'i and Palestinian district of Nabaa in East Beirut after Imam Musa Sadr negotiated the departure of its Shi'i inhabitants. Tens of thousands fled to the southern suburbs and West Beirut.
Sources differ: Traboulsi's chronology dates the fall of Nabaa to 12 August, with Tal al-Za'tar. The numbers displaced range from more than 40,000 (de Clerck and Malsagne) to 100,000 (Picard) or 200,000 Muslims of East Beirut (Traboulsi).
Art and memory- place Displaced Christians later occupied the abandoned houses of Nabaa, while displaced Muslims and Palestinians occupied houses in Damour.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 12 August 1976
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September 1976
Wednesday, 22 September 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Bechir Gemayel announced the creation of an army to defend Lebanon.
What the books addMénargues dates the formal unification of the Christian militias under Bashir Gemayel's command to 31 August 1976; Yara El Khoury has it announced to President Frangieh in early September 1976. According to de Clerck and Malsagne, 'Lebanese Forces' was not the official name until 1981, but the unified command was officially founded on 25 March 1976.
Other dates in the books: Thursday, 25 March 1976, Tuesday, 31 August 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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January 1978
Sunday, 22 January 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese Front adopted a coexistence formula.
Leaders of the Lebanese Front, gathered at President Frangieh's home in Zghorta since the day before, inaugurated their seminar which main themes were the national understanding, the project of Palestinians settlement in Lebanon, and the internal organization of the Front itself. Their final press release made it clear that the Palestinian presence constituted an obstacle to the national understanding and that Lebanon rejected any kind of union.
Other date in the books: Friday, 21 January 1977
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March 1978
Tuesday, 14 March 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Israel invaded the South, after an operation executed by the Fedayin on March 11 at Tel Aviv.
25,000 men backed by the aviation, armored vehicles and artillery invaded, within 2 hours, a tenth of Lebanon and forced Palestinians to withdraw to the North of the Litani. A first estimate reported 700 deaths and 160,000 displaced persons. Refugees rushed to Beirut causing a serious social problem. Air raids bombarded Damour, Ouzaï, and Tyr.
What the books addHistorians date the start of Operation Litani to 14 March (de Clerck and Malsagne, Traboulsi, Quéméner; de Clerck's chronology gives 15 March) and its end to 21 March. Up to 25,000 Israeli soldiers and 120 tanks took part (de Clerck and Malsagne). Estimates of the dead range from about 300 Palestinian fighters (de Clerck and Malsagne) to about 2,000 people, mostly civilians (Fisk; de Clerck and Malsagne; Picard). Estimates of the displaced range from 150,000 (Hanf's refugee table) and more than 200,000 (de Clerck and Malsagne, Picard) to 285,000 (Lebanese government figure cited by Fisk). On 15 March Israeli aircraft bombed the Palestinian camps of Beirut, Tyre and Damour.
Art and memory- film Maroun Baghdadi's 1979 film We Are All For The Fatherland denounced what the Israeli invasion had done to South Lebanon.
- testimony Robert Fisk's eyewitness account of the invasion describes refugees on the coast road, the killing of women and children in two cars at Adloun by an Israeli landing party, the bombing of Aadchit and the shelling of Tyre.
- place The 'Amil association was founded after Israel's 1978 invasion by Kamel Mohanna, a paediatrician from South Lebanon, to bring emergency relief to war victims.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 15 March 1978
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Wednesday, 22 March 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The first ' Blue Helmets ' arrived to the South.
What the books addFisk dates the arrival in Tyre of UNIFIL's first unit, Colonel Jean Germain Salvan's French paratroopers, to 23 March. That morning, at the nearby Hassan Borro barracks, Palestinians and Lebanese officers nearly opened fire over the handover.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 23 March 1978
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February 1979
Wednesday, 14 February 1979
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Revolution in Iran: Lebanon's Shi'is find a patron abroad.
Iran became an Islamic Republic after the Shah's overthrow; its new defence minister, Mustapha Chamran, had directed a technical school in south Lebanon founded by Sadr. With Musa al-Sadr's disappearance in Libya, the revolution quickly mobilised the Shi'is of Beirut and the south and gave Amal fresh strength.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne give 14 February 1979 for the birth of the Islamic Republic; Hanf and Traboulsi date the overthrow of the Shah to January 1979. These may be different stages of the revolution.
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April 1979
Sunday, 22 April 1979
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Attack on Nahariya; Israeli officers set up a secret bombing front in Lebanon.
Senior Israeli officers answered a Palestinian raid on Nahariya, in northern Israel, by creating the 'Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners', manned by Lebanese of several communities. Up to 1983 its bombs killed hundreds of Lebanese and Palestinians, civilians and fighters alike. Prime Minister Begin was told of it only in June 1980.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne attribute the Nahariya attack to the PFLP.
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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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August 1979
Tuesday, 14 August 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Tension reached its peak everywhere in Lebanon.
Heavy fights opposed the Lebanese Forces to the Lebanese army at the Beirut River's Corniche and in Oyoune el Simane.
Other date in the books: Monday, 18 June 1979
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September 1979
Saturday, 22 September 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
President Elias Sarkis delivered an important speech, in which he emphasized the overriding role the army should play. Without it 'the State will be a body with no soul', he said. He insisted that the Arabs should stop to shilly-shally about Southern Lebanon.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 13 March 1979
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October 1980
Wednesday, 22 October 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Chafic Wazzan was asked to form a new government, while Israel launched an air strike againt Damour. The aerial Traffic at the Beirut International Airport was interrupted.
What the books addIn Ménargues's account the appointment came on 25 October, after Damascus had vetoed Takieddine Solh and put up three candidates including Hoss; by picking none of them Sarkis disregarded Syrian advice for the first time in his presidency.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 25 October 1980
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December 1980
Sunday, 14 December 1980
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Bashir Gemayel warns his brother Amine's officer to stop building a separate militia.
Bashir Gemayel ran into Colonel Ibrahim Tannous, close to his brother Amine, at the Jeitawi hospital and warned him to stop building up Amine's militia. A month earlier Amine had defied the common Lebanese Forces badge by parading some 3,000 men in Phalange insignia at Jdeideh. Ménargues says Amine backed down from then on.
Sources differ: Hanf says Amine's Metn militia kept a measure of autonomy until 1988.
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Monday, 22 December 1980
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Five Syrian soldiers are killed in Zahle; Syrian artillery shells the town.
In Ménargues's account an ambush inside Zahleh killed five Syrian soldiers; when the town would not hand over the culprits after six hours of shelling, it was pounded non-stop for 48 hours, until Washington deplored Syria's conduct in public. Hanf gives an officer and five soldiers dead, shelling through Christmas week and a real ceasefire only weeks later.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date the Syrian bombardment to 21 December (stored entry 415), Ménargues to 22 December onwards. End of the shelling: 26 December (entry 415), after about 48 hours (Ménargues), or an effective ceasefire only weeks later (Hanf).
Other date in the books: Sunday, 21 December 1980
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April 1981
Wednesday, 22 April 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The nightmare continued. The Lebanese authorities were completely powerless to stop the violence and the conflicting parties were unable to reach an agreement. The Beirut International Airport was closed to traffic and both dead and wounded victims continued to shed their blood on this agonizing Lebanese land.
What the books addAccording to Ménargues, Bashir Gemayel answered the collapse of a cease-fire on 22 April, which left 140 dead or wounded in Beirut within hours, by having the international airport shelled. On 11 May US ambassador John Gunther Dean urged the Lebanese Forces, via Alfred Madi, to let it reopen; that evening they dropped their objection.
Other date in the books: Monday, 11 May 1981
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July 1981
Monday, 6 July 1981
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Bashir Gemayel pledges in writing to break with Israel.
Bashir Gemayel met the Arab Vigilance Committee's condition, a pledge of no cooperation with Israel, in a letter to Sarkis, signed after a secret night visit to Israel on 5–6 July to brief Begin. Sarkis told the committee but never made the letter public.
Sources differ: The original entry 482 dates a Sarkis–Gemayel meeting on the pledge to 8 July.
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Tuesday, 14 July 1981
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
A Syrian MiG is shot down over south Lebanon.
A Syrian MiG was lost near Kfarfalous when Syria's air force tried to intercept Israeli fighter-bombers over the south.
Sources differ: Original entry 489 records a Syrian MiG downed on 29 July; Ménargues's Kfarfalous loss is on 14 July, so they may be separate.
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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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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
Sunday, 6 June 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Israelis invaded the South along three axes.
The Security Council adopted immediately a resolution requesting the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all Israeli forces up to the internationally recognized borderlines. However, this did not stop Israel from reaching Saida and Tyr.
What the books addThe invasion, called 'Operation Peace for Galilee', began on Sunday 6 June: Israeli commandos crossed the border at 1.30 a.m. to attack Beaufort castle (Ménargues), and up to 25,000 troops moved along the coast, through Tibnin and across the eastern sector (Fisk). The government declared a limited aim of a 40-kilometre zone, but Defence Minister Ariel Sharon and Chief of Staff Rafael Eitan kept advancing (Hanf). One overview in de Clerck and Malsagne and Picard's chronology give 5 June.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 5 June 1982
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Monday, 14 June 1982
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Israeli forces cut the Beirut-Damascus road: the siege of West Beirut begins.
The siege of West Beirut, lasting until 21 August, began at dawn as the Israeli army, in a first, crossed the Beirut-Damascus road, trapping the Palestinian forces in the west with a Syrian brigade. By evening white sheets hung in Hamra and Amal fighters were seen dumping guns.
Sources differ: Hanf and Picard describe a siege of 'three months' or from mid-June without a day.
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August 1982
Friday, 6 August 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Accra building occupied by refugees collapsed during an Israeli air raid on Beirut, provoking the death of 250 persons.
What the books addIn rue Aussi near Sanayeh park a car bomb exploded among rescuers minutes after Israeli bombs levelled two five-storey blocks, says Robert Fisk's dispatch datelined West Beirut, 5 August; a neighbour put over 100 people, mostly squatters from the camps and the south, beneath the rubble. Arafat had reportedly met there just before.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 5 August 1982
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September 1982
Tuesday, 14 September 1982
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Bechir Gemayel was killed by a bomb set in the headquarters of the Phalange Party in Achrafieh. The explosion killed 20 persons and wounded 60 others. The Lebanese President was gone and the hope that had pervaded the hearts of the Lebanese had vanished in seconds.
What the books addBashir Gemayel was killed at about 4 p.m. during his weekly visit to the Kataeb office in Ashrafieh, nine days before taking office. The bomb, about 35 kilos of explosive, had been placed two days earlier in the flat above by Habib Tanios Chartouni, a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, arrested on 16 September (Ménargues). Prime Minister Wazzan announced the death at midnight. Hanf counts 26 dead.
Art and memory- memorial Each 14 September Achrafieh marked Bashir Gemayel's death with a gathering at his monument in Place Sassine, under wall slogans such as 'Bashir lives in us'.
- testimony Robert Fisk notes a story among East Beirut Maronites that Bashir had left the ruins alive, climbed into an ambulance and would return.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 16 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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February 1983
Monday, 14 February 1983
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Army deployed 3800 soldiers and officers in the East between Nahr El Mott, Dora and Hazmieh, by virtue of a decree granting it extended powers.
What the books addEarly in 1983 the Eighth Brigade went into all of Beirut, the east included, under a plan to collect light arms in the city and clear heavy weapons and gunmen from Greater Beirut. The Lebanese Forces resisted, then on 1 March 1983 agreed to return East Beirut and the port's fifth basin to the state.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 1 March 1983
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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
Friday, 6 May 1983
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Shultz is told in Damascus that Syria will not withdraw.
In Damascus President Assad told US Secretary of State George Shultz that Syria opposed the draft Lebanese-Israeli agreement and would not withdraw; in Beirut, Druze and Phalangist gunners paused only during Shultz's visit.
Sources differ: Hanf dates the Damascus meeting to 6 May, Fisk to 8 May.
Other date in the books: Sunday, 8 May 1983
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Saturday, 14 May 1983
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Council of Ministers approved unanimously the draft agreement with Israel which only needed to be signed.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne say the deputies were told of the text at a closed session on 15 May; Prime Minister Wazzan approved it and sent it to the president, and that month 70 of the 91 deputies still in office backed the government.
Other date in the books: Sunday, 15 May 1983
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June 1983
Tuesday, 14 June 1983
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While the bombardments took a dangerous turn in the mountain as they reached residential areas, the Chamber of Deputies approved the ratification of the Mai 17 agreement with 62 votes against 2 and 4 abstentions.
What the books addCounts differ: Hanf has 64 for, 2 against and 4 abstentions among 70 deputies present (40 of 50 Christian and 24 of 41 Muslim members in favour); Traboulsi has 65 for, 2 against and 4 abstentions; Fisk puts the vote on 15 June. Traboulsi says the government formally renounced the agreement on 5 March 1984, Amine Gemayel never having signed it.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 15 June 1983
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September 1983
Tuesday, 6 September 1983
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Bhamdoun falls; its Christian inhabitants are massacred or flee.
Druze fighters, with tanks and anti-Arafat Palestinian guerrillas, routed the Lebanese Forces at Bhamdoun, a Greek Orthodox town, which was then looted. No bodies of the Christian dead were ever found; De Clerck and Malsagne count 334.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne (p. 178) also record that some anti-Arafat Fatah dissidents hid and saved Christians in Bhamdoun.
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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
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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February 1984
Tuesday, 14 February 1984
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Amal and PSP met in Khaldeh, while only Souk El Gharb was still controlled by the Army in the mountain.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne give 14 February 1984 for the PSP's capture of the Chahhar district, part of a week-long uprising in Beirut and the mountain.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 15 February 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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January 1985
Monday, 14 January 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Israeli government decided to withdraw its army from South Lebanon progressively.
What the books addThe withdrawal was unilateral and staged. Antoine Lahad's militia, renamed the South Lebanon Army and backed by Israel, was to police the 'security zone' Israel kept. Historians date the departure from Sidon to 17 February (Traboulsi), and the fall-back to the security zone to May-June 1985 (de Clerck and Malsagne).
Other date in the books: Sunday, 17 February 1985
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March 1985
Thursday, 14 March 1985
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
British metallurgist Geoffrey Nash is kidnapped in West Beirut.
Three gunmen abducted Geoffrey Nash near his home in Makhoul Street. Nash, a British metallurgist, worked for the Lebanese industrial institute.
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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May 1985
Wednesday, 22 May 1985
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Amal takes Sabra camp.
Part of Sabra was destroyed and made a car park after Amal took the camp in the first round of the 'War of the Camps'.
Sources differ: Hanf says Sabra was destroyed and overrun 'by early June'; the original entry of 20 May speaks of all the camps taken.
Other date in the books: Monday, 20 May 1985
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Michel Seurat and Jean-Paul Kauffmann are kidnapped on the airport road.
The French researcher Michel Seurat and the journalist Jean-Paul Kauffmann were abducted on the airport road. Seurat died in captivity.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date Seurat's death to 1986.
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June 1985
Thursday, 6 June 1985
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Israel officially completed its withdrawal from South Lebanon. Nevertheless, several Israeli soldiers continued to occupy the Security Zone. In reality, the last Israeli armored vehicle left Lebanon on June 10 after an accident in which Israel lost 654 deaths and 3890 injured, and four disappeared soldiers.
What the books addIsraeli losses: de Clerck and Malsagne count 670 dead and nearly 3,000 wounded between June 1982 and June 1985 (and 721 dead and 3,890 wounded for the whole war); Traboulsi writes of some 500 dead. Israel kept a 'security zone' policed with Lahad's South Lebanon Army.
Art and memory- place Israel opened a clandestine prison at Khiam in 1985; Soha Bechara, a communist resistance fighter, was held there for ten years.
Other dates in the books: Sunday, 17 February 1985, Saturday, 28 December 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
Tuesday, 14 January 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The eleventh Gemayel-Assad summit was a total failure.
What the books addFor Gemayel, says Traboulsi, the accord robbed the presidency of its arbitrating role; they last met on 13-14 January 1986.
Other date in the books: Monday, 13 January 1986
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February 1987
Sunday, 22 February 1987
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Syrian army returns to West Beirut.
Much of the population welcomed the Syrian troops who entered West Beirut at Muslim leaders' invitation after a week of fighting between Amal and the PSP and its leftist allies. Militiamen were banned from carrying arms in the streets; Amal fell back to the southern suburbs, which the Syrians left alone. Gemayel protested.
Sources differ: Date: 22 February (Hanf; de Clerck and Malsagne, twice), 20 February (Picard), 28 February (Traboulsi). 22 February has the most support and is also the date given in original entry 988. Size of force: two brigades (Hanf), 12,000 soldiers plus Special Forces (de Clerck and Malsagne), 8,000 (Quéméner).
Other dates in the books: Friday, 20 February 1987, Saturday, 28 February 1987
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April 1988
Wednesday, 6 April 1988
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Following combats between Amal and Hezbollah, Nabatiyeh falls in the hands of Amal militiamen.
What the books addThe books date the start of the Amal-Hezbollah fighting in the south to 5 April 1988 (de Clerck); Picard's chronology gives 28 November 1988, which seems to describe the later round in Beirut.
Other dates in the books: Tuesday, 5 April 1988, Monday, 28 November 1988
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May 1988
Friday, 6 May 1988
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Amal and Hezbollah begin fighting for the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Beirut's southern suburbs became the scene of the second, deadlier round of the Amal-Hezbollah war. Hezbollah took most of the suburbs in about two weeks, after which Syrian troops entered to protect Amal; Quéméner counts 600 dead.
Sources differ: Hanf says Hezbollah, backed by Iranian Revolutionary Guards and by money that bought over Amal commanders, attacked Amal; the Confluences article, citing sources close to Hezbollah, says it held back until Amal attacked. Entry 1074 gives 157 dead and 666 wounded in six days. For the Syrian entry, Hanf gives 17 May 1988, de Clerck and Malsagne '19 May 1989', and entry 1077 gives 27 May.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 17 May 1988
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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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September 1988
Thursday, 22 September 1988
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Three Amal leaders, among them its southern commander Daoud Daoud, are assassinated.
Daoud Daoud, Amal's commander in the south, was murdered with two other Amal officials; Amal blamed Hezbollah and later cast its war as a response to these killings. In 1988 Daoud had also proclaimed a Christian priest of Tyre, tortured to death, a martyr of Amal. That month the two militias clashed in the Bekaa, the south and Beirut's southern suburbs.
Sources differ: Hanf gives only September 1988; de Clerck and the Confluences article (same authors) give 22 September.
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February 1989
Tuesday, 14 February 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
New confrontations between the army and the L.F. were taking place in Monteverde and next to the Justice Palace in Beirut, which created a general mobilization on both sides.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne date the first army-LF clash to 14 February: after 18 hours of fighting the army had the upper hand. Hanf dates the start to 10 February.
Other date in the books: Friday, 10 February 1989
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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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