190 entries on 166 dates · the books disagree on 37
dates 1–60 of 166 next
May 1969
Tuesday, 6 May 1969
The road to war · From the books
On television, President Helou sets Lebanese sovereignty as the limit of support for the Palestinians.
Lebanon was left without a cabinet for months after 6 May, when President Charles Helou said on television that backing the Palestinian cause must not put Lebanon's sovereignty and security at risk. He and the army had open support only from Christian politicians; no leading Sunni would take office.
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August 1971
Wednesday, 18 August 1971
The road to war · From the books
Yuhanna Bassul is elected Greek Catholic bishop of Zahle.
Elected Greek Catholic bishop of Zahle on 18 August 1971, Yuhanna Bassul was welcomed with ceremony in the town and in Christian villages of the northern Bekaa. His journals, covering 1971-1976 and long unknown, are a rare source on how the war came to Zahle.
Art and memory- book Bishop Yuhanna Bassul's journals for 1971-1976, kept at the Greek Catholic archbishopric of Sayyidat al-Najat in Zahle, surfaced during fieldwork in 2016. They trace tensions over the Palestinian question in Zahle and Ta'labaya.
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October 1973
Saturday, 6 October 1973
The road to war · From the books range (6–25 October 1973)
Israel wrecks the Barouk radar in the October War; Lebanon stays out.
During the October War Israel destroyed the Mount Barouk radar Lebanon had lent Syria, and its jets crossed the Bekaa to strike Damascus, though Lebanon took no part. In Zahle the bishop and residents sent relief to Damascus for the Syrian army and nursed wounded soldiers at Tal Chiha hospital.
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January 1974
Friday, 18 January 1974
The road to war · From the books
Egypt and Israel sign the first Sinai disengagement agreement.
Kissinger's shuttle diplomacy produced the first Egyptian-Israeli disengagement agreement in Sinai. Hanf argues that the disengagements left Lebanon as the only front open to Palestinian armed struggle.
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January 1975
Monday, 6 January 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The army launched an attack in Tripoli
The army succeeded, after a tense day of occasional shootings, to invest and control the old town of Tripoli where many outlaws have been hiding for the past 6 months. Two civilians died, 12 were wounded, and 75 persons were arrested.
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February 1975
Tuesday, 18 February 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Imam Musa al-Sadr preaches in a Beirut church.
Imam Musa al-Sadr, invited by Archbishop Boulos Bassim, gave a Lenten sermon at Saint-Louis, the Capuchins' church in Beirut. Amal, his movement, was already secretly training with weapons in the Bekaa.
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March 1975
Wednesday, 19 March 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Imam Moussa Sadr remained the spiritual leader of the Shiite community until he was 65 years old.
The Imam was 48 years old. His mandate was extended unanimously by the General assembly of the Superior Shiite Council.
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April 1975
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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August 1975
Monday, 18 August 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The National Movement publishes its reform programme.
The Lebanese National Movement published a transitional programme of democratic reform. Its demands included a constituent assembly, administrative decentralisation and an optional civil code of personal status, together with proportional representation in a single national constituency and an end to sectarian quotas.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne's chronology gives 12 August. Tufaro's 18 August comes from the date printed on the LNM document itself and is preferred here.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 12 August 1975
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September 1975
Friday, 19 September 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Beirut was the theater of numerous troubles - street fights, plastic bomb attacks, and fires were reported. The downtown, the heart of the old Beirut, was in fire too, and the heart of the Lebanese full of fear. At night, a cease-fire was announced.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne date the start of fighting in central Beirut to the night of 17-18 September 1975; Hanf and Traboulsi hold the Kataeb responsible for shelling the old souks. A cease-fire and the setting-up of the National Dialogue Committee followed.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 17 September 1975
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November 1975
Wednesday, 19 November 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books range
French envoy Maurice Couve de Murville begins a mediation mission.
Giscard d'Estaing's envoy Maurice Couve de Murville was in Beirut on 19-30 November, then Damascus until 2 December. Paris did not call it a mediation (Picard: a fact-finding mission); de Clerck and Malsagne find it made no headway.
Sources differ: Picard calls the mission successful; de Clerck and Malsagne say it achieved nothing notable.
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December 1975
Saturday, 6 December 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The assassination of four young Phalangists on the Fanar road provoked horrible killings in the streets of Beirut.
The capital was rapidly set ablaze. It was the apocalypse. Militias launched street fights resulting in tens of innocent victims. Violence was at its peek and nothing seemed to end this thirst for blood.
What the books addThe bodies of four young Kataeb members were found on 6 December 1975, while Pierre Gemayel was in Damascus; Muslims seized at makeshift checkpoints by the port were killed in reprisal. Accounts place the bodies in the Metn (Hanf), near Tal al-Za'tar (Haugbolle) or outside the electricity company offices (Fisk). De Clerck and Malsagne blame Joseph Saadeh, whose son was among the four. Only Fisk puts Bashir Gemayel in Damascus and cites Phalangist officers saying he ordered the reprisal. The Muslim dead number about 200 (Hanf, Traboulsi, de Clerck and Malsagne) or several dozen (Picard); Fisk gives at least 300 Muslims, and probably as many Christians, in the reprisals.
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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January 1976
Sunday, 18 January 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Karantina massacre
Christian forces conquered Karantina, a slum district populated primarily by poor Kurds and Armenians but controlled by a PLO detachment. More than 1000 civilians were massacred.
What the books addDates differ between historians: 16 January (Ménargues), 18 January (de Clerck and Malsagne; consistent with Fisk), 19 January (Hanf), 20 or 22 January (Traboulsi). Maslakh, next door, fell at the same time. Most of the district's people were Shi'is, living alongside Palestinians, Kurds and Armenian Lebanese. Haugbolle estimates 150-500 dead, de Clerck and Malsagne 600-1,000; some 30,000 people were driven out to West Beirut and the southern suburbs.
Art and memory- film Les Enfants de la guerre, Jocelyne Saab's 1976 documentary, was shot in the aftermath of the Karantina massacre.
- place The B018 nightclub, put up at Karantina in 1998, was given a coffin-like look that Haugbolle reads as an allusion to the massacre there.
- book Jonathan Randal's reporting made the Karantina and Damour massacres known abroad.
Other dates in the books: Friday, 16 January 1976, Monday, 19 January 1976, Tuesday, 20 January 1976, Thursday, 22 January 1976
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March 1976
Thursday, 18 March 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Assad tells the US ambassador that Frangieh has asked for Syrian military help.
When Murphy raised the security of Israel's borders, Assad said he could promise nothing but hoped Washington would persuade Israel this internal Arab matter did not concern it. Frangieh, he said, had asked Syria for military help.
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Kamal Jumblatt's forces launch the 'Mountain War'.
Kamal Jumblatt, head of the National Movement, attacked on two fronts, Beirut and the Mountain, to crush the Christian camp militarily. That day's Druze attacks brought several massacres of Christians, some of them Jumblatt supporters.
Sources differ: Hanf places the main Joint Forces offensive in the Upper Metn in the last week of March.
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May 1976
Thursday, 6 May 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Jocelyne Khoueiry and six young women defend a building in Beirut.
Jocelyne Khoueiry and six other young women defended a building against 300 Palestinian fighters.
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June 1976
Friday, 18 June 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Palestinian Progressive forces launched attacks against the Syrian forces positioned in Ain Zhalta and Ain Dara in order to stop their advance in the Chouf.
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
President Gerald Ford ordered the US embassy in Beirut to evacuate urgently all US nationals in Lebanon who would like to return home.
What the books addBarely a tenth of American and British residents accepted the evacuation, Fisk writes. The British went by road, the PLO escorting them through West Beirut and a Libyan officer on to the Syrian lines; a day later a US landing craft took evacuees off from a PLO-guarded bathing club on the Corniche.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 16 June 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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November 1976
January 1977
March 1977
Saturday, 19 March 1977
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
An airplane was hijacked between Turkey and Lebanon.
The operation began 50 minutes after a Boeing 727 on the Diarbakin-Ankara route took off with 182 passengers aboard and 6 crewmembers. Two hijackers forced the airplane to head towards Beirut where it landed at 4pm. The Lebanese authorities took charge of the situation and began negotiations with the hijackers. Ultimately, the passengers were released and the police arrested the hijackers.
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June 1977
October 1977
Wednesday, 19 October 1977
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A sensational hold up took place in the Kantari sector. Gangsters attacked a customs wagon and seized a 2 810 000 LP booty.
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
In order to deal with the economic recession caused by the two-year crisis and the unbearable increase of the cost of living, the government decided to help both employers and salaried. He raised the minimum wage to 415 LP and granted facilities to the employers.
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November 1977
Saturday, 19 November 1977
The Lebanese war · Added from the books range
Sadat's visit to Jerusalem overturns alliances in Lebanon (context).
Sadat was in Jerusalem from 19 to 21 November and spoke to the Knesset; he had said on 9 November that he was willing to go. Historians see the Lebanese camps realigning from then on: Syria, left isolated, moved towards the PLO, whose fighters resumed operations from the south, and the Lebanese Front looked to Israel. Hanf concludes that Egypt's peace made war in Lebanon inevitable.
Sources differ: Traboulsi gives 19-21 November; Hanf gives the arrival on 19 November.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 9 November 1977
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January 1978
Friday, 6 January 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Begin Plan concerning the settlement of Palestinians in Lebanon made some noise.
The Lebanese reacted with firmness and indignation to the conspiracy initiated by foreign countries. According to Salim El Hoss, 'Every project expecting the settlement of Palestinians outside of their land is rejected.' The President of the Republic also rejected any project stipulating the permanent settlement of Palestinians in Lebanon. 'Our country should determine itself what it is able to offer. It is unfair to solve the Palestinian question by creating a Lebanese problem. We will make every effort to let our right prevail', he said.
What the books addHanf notes that in December 1977 Menachem Begin, Israel's prime minister, had excluded any return of the Palestinian refugees in neighbouring countries.
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March 1978
Sunday, 19 March 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Security council adopted the 425 Resolution which stipulated the expedition of 4,000 blue helmets to confirm the withdrawal of the Israeli forces. They had also to assist the Lebanese government in the restoration of its authority in the region.
What the books addResolution 425 was adopted with Resolution 426, which set up the force; the USSR abstained (de Clerck and Malsagne). UNIFIL later numbered about 6,000 soldiers, with France providing the largest first contingent (1,290 men).
Other date in the books: Saturday, 18 March 1978
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April 1978
Wednesday, 19 April 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Hoss government, formed in December of 1976, resigned. El Hoss himself was soon asked, on April 28, to form the new government.
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Haddad's militia attacks UNIFIL headquarters at Naqoura.
Eight UN soldiers, six Irish and two Dutch, were wounded when mortar, RPG and heavy machine-gun fire hit UNIFIL's Naqoura headquarters, inside Haddad's enclave, at midnight. Israel ordered Haddad to end the siege only once the UN asked it.
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May 1978
June 1978
Tuesday, 6 June 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese Front stiffened its position.
It considered that the Palestinian Resistance did not have its place in Lebanon anymore. The Front proclaimed that all the agreements with the PLO were null and void. The Front hoped that the Lebanese army replaces the primarily Syrian Arab Strike Force. President Sarkis was determined to dispatch the army to the South.
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July 1978
Tuesday, 18 July 1978
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Sarkis withdraws his resignation after the Syrian shelling stops.
President Sarkis took back his resignation once Syria had halted its shelling of East Beirut.
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September 1978
Tuesday, 19 September 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
In Lebanon strikes multiplied.
In East Beirut, a strike was organized to protest against the presence of the 'Green Helmets', while in West Beirut protests were against the mysterious disappearance of Imama Moussa Sadr. Christian leaders did not want to renew the Arab Strike Force's mandate unless it was done under new conditions.
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January 1979
Friday, 19 January 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Israeli army launched a triple air, ground and sea operation against Arnoun, Aichieh and the costal region. These events caused 16 dead, 12 injured and 25 prisoners.
Concurrently, the Security Council renewed the UNIFL mandate until Beirut elaborated a program re-establishing its authority in Southern Lebanon.
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February 1979
April 1979
Wednesday, 18 April 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
An army battalion deployed in the UNIFL zone in the South, despite bombardments by Saad Haddad’s militias against the Lebanese soldiers. The latter have come all the way from Yarze. The same day, the rebel officer Saad Haddad proclaimed the State of Free Lebanon. He was dismissed from the Lebanese army the following day.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne and Picard agree that Haddad declared his 'State of Free Lebanon' at Marjayoun on 18 April 1979, in reaction to the army being sent towards the UNIFIL area under the March 1979 defence law; de Clerck and Malsagne put its size at 250 square kilometres and call it entirely reliant on Israel. Hanf has Haddad's troops stopping the battalion; de Clerck and Malsagne and Picard, Israeli aircraft bombing it; Fisk, Israel letting its militia shell it. Traboulsi dates Haddad's break to his Army of Free Lebanon of June 1976, Ménargues to a secession at the end of 1977. Hanf adds that once Haddad had lost his rank and been dismissed in disgrace, Israel paid his men.
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May 1979
Sunday, 6 May 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Israeli aviation, aiming at a Palestinian target, killed five innocents and injured 15 others in a wedding ceremony in the Akkar. All the victims were Lebanese with, among them, several kids.
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June 1979
Monday, 18 June 1979
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The army enters Ain al-Rummaneh and clashes with Bashir Gemayel's militiamen.
Unable to stop the fighting between their own militias, Pierre Gemayel and Camille Chamoun turned to President Sarkis, who sent in the army. In Ain al-Rummaneh the troops clashed bloodily with Bashir Gemayel's Kataeb fighters, the first serious confrontation between the army and a Lebanese militia, and relations between the army and the Lebanese Forces worsened thereafter.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne put the Ain al-Rummaneh turning point on 18 June (p. 275) but have the army called in on 14 June in another passage (p. 321). Original entry 272, of 16 June, expected the army to move in early the following week, which fits Monday 18 June.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 12 May 1979
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December 1979
Wednesday, 19 December 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
An ongoing manifestation in Tripoli went out of control. The demonstrators protesting against the increase of the cost of living, vandalized Tripoli's seraglio and molested the Mohafez of Northern Lebanon. The administrations and public services clerks in Tripoli decided to stop working for 3 days.
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January 1980
Friday, 18 January 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A Shiite hijacked an MEA Boeing 707.
This airplane flying from Beirut to Larnaca had 72 passengers and 10 crewmembers onboard. The hijacker surrendered to the Lebanese authorities and claimed, in a press conference, the intensification of the efforts in order to find Imam Moussa Sadr. He also requested the positioning of the Lebanese army in South of Lebanon.
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March 1980
Thursday, 6 March 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Units from the Arab Strike Force positioned in the Sin el Fil- Dekouaneh-Mekalles region started to gather in order to withdraw towards Jamhour-Aley. The total withdrawal should be executed by Saturday night and the Lebanese army would replace the Syrian soldiers.
What the books addHanf: clashes among the Christian militias grew more frequent after the partial Syrian withdrawal, which removed Syrian checkpoints on the roads into East Beirut and between Achrafieh and the Christian suburbs and gave the militias one unbroken territory for the first time since 1976.
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April 1980
Friday, 18 April 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The South was still bleeding. 18 persons were killed in an Israeli raid against Sarafand and Adloun.
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A car bomb exploded at Kabb Elias killing 9 persons and wounding 30 others.
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Two Irish UNIFIL soldiers are abducted and killed in Haddad's enclave.
Irish privates Derek Smallhorn and Thomas Barrett each died of one shot to the nape, about an hour after being driven from Bint Jbeil. Christian gunmen in Haddad's zone had ambushed them and Private John O'Mahony, who escaped wounded, as they escorted two UN observers. Israel denied any knowledge; a UN and Irish police inquiry blamed two brothers of a militiaman UN troops had killed at At-Tiri.
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May 1980
June 1980
Friday, 6 June 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Selim el Hoss resigned from office. President Sarkis accepted his resignation on June 16.
What the books addMénargues dates the resignation to March 1980, after repeated deadlock between Hoss and Sarkis over the army; Hoss stayed on as caretaker until Shafiq Wazzan's appointment in late October.
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Thursday, 19 June 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The first official exams since the beginning of the war were held as usual.
We are far from the excessive cheating reported last year. However, the Minister of National Education had to cancel the Baccalaureate exams in South Lebanon because of the chaotic atmosphere that was prevailing.
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July 1980
Sunday, 6 July 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Violent confrontations opposed in Ain Mreisse the Mourabitoun and the Arab Socialist Union. 3 persons died and 16 others were wounded.
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Pierre Gemayel and Camille Chamoun propose merging their parties.
On Sunday 6 July 1980 Pierre Gemayel and Camille Chamoun, unable to stop their militias fighting, proposed merging the Kataeb and the National Liberal Party at an afternoon meeting at Gemayel's Bikfaya home. Bashir attacked at dawn next day.
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August 1980
Tuesday, 19 August 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
An Israeli raid targeted the region of Arnoun.
Violent confrontations opposed Palestinian Progressive 'common forces' and 60 Israeli soldiers backed by helicopters. The 'common forces' reported 25 dead and 30 injured, while Israelis reported 20 victims. The next day, a double Israeli raid targeted Nabatyeh.
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September 1980
Thursday, 18 September 1980
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Mossad questions Bashir Gemayel about the rocket fired at the US ambassador.
Writing to Bashir Gemayel on 18 September, the Mossad's Lebanon desk chief Menachem Navot ('Mendy') said a US inquiry had matched the LAW rocket fired at Ambassador John Gunther Dean's car on 27 August to one the US had supplied to Israel; Israel had handed some to Bashir's forces in 1976. He asked whether Bashir's men were involved. Bashir's inquiry blamed the Ahrar leader Elias Hannouche.
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January 1981
Sunday, 18 January 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Jean Francois Revel, the director of the French weekly magazine L'Express, left Beirut after a 48-hour visit. He declared before his departure: 'The actual drama in Lebanon is the result of the convergence of external factors rather than an internal crisis'.
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February 1981
March 1981
April 1981
Monday, 6 April 1981
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Haig condemns the Syrian shelling of Zahleh.
Zahleh was heavily shelled from dawn. That morning in Riyadh, Secretary of State Alexander Haig blamed Moscow for sponsoring the Syrian bombardment, which he severely condemned.
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May 1981
Monday, 18 May 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While the civilian population continued to pay the high price of Man's madness, a Saudi solution plan was put into place. It stipulated the maintenance of SAM missiles in the Bekaa region, the progressive withdrawal of the Arab Strike Force from Lebanon, the limitation of Palestinian activities in the South and the reinforcement of the Lebanese central authority.
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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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August 1981
September 1981
October 1981
dates 1–60 of 166 next
