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chronologiesallThe road to war 1968–1974 The Lebanese war 1975–1990 After the war 1991–2005 July 2006, as the books tell it 2006 Since 2005 2005–2025

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28 entries on 27 dates · the books disagree on 28

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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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

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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April 1976

Friday, 9 April 1976

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

Parliament amends the constitution to allow an early presidential election.
With Syria enforcing a truce, deputies changed Article 73 of the constitution so that Frangieh's successor could be elected up to six months before his term ended, not two.

Sources differ: Hanf gives 9 April, Yara El Khoury 10 April.

Other date in the books: Saturday, 10 April 1976

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

Syrian forces enter the Bekaa; Saiqa moves to relieve besieged Zahleh.
Syrian army tanks appeared at Anjar, Judaydat Yabus and Bayadir al-Adas, inside Lebanon, while Saiqa fighters came in and began to relieve besieged Zahleh. When Jumblatt asked, Dean Brown said the Syrians were clearing roads.

Sources differ: The original entry 62 dates the Syrian entry into the Bekaa to 10 April.

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June 1976

Wednesday, 9 June 1976

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

The Arab League decides to send an Arab peace force.
Meeting in Cairo, the Arab League Council appealed for a ceasefire and voted to deploy an Arab peace force. That day an official Tass statement openly condemned Syria's intervention.

Sources differ: Traboulsi and Picard's Liban-Syrie call this force the ADF; Hanf distinguishes it from the Arab Deterrent Force created at Riyadh in October.

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Friday, 18 June 1976

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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November 1976

Tuesday, 9 November 1976

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

Phase 1of the peace plan assigned to the Arab Strike Force takes effect tonight.
The 'Green Helmets' began their deployment at midnight and headed towards the mountain on four simultaneous axes. This positioning was difficult due to the blind bombings of the residential districts of Beirut.

What the books addFisk: Kahhaleh showed white flags and Hazmiyeh's Christians threw rice and rose water at the crews as at least 20 miles of Syrian tanks, guns and troop carriers came down on Beirut from dawn on 10 November.

Other date in the books: Wednesday, 10 November 1976

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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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May 1981

Saturday, 9 May 1981

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

Both sectors in Beirut witnessed a day of terror. Blind bombardments caused 21 dead and 98 wounded. The shelling reached Jounieh, Bkerkeh, and Beit Mery.

What the books addFor 8 May, a day of shelling throughout Habib's meetings, Ménargues gives the US embassy toll: 21 dead and 98 wounded.

Other date in the books: Friday, 8 May 1981

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June 1981

Tuesday, 9 June 1981

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

The American envoy Philip Habib began a new round of visits in the region.

Other date in the books: Wednesday, 10 June 1981

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May 1982

Sunday, 9 May 1982

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

Israel launched several raids in Southern Lebanon.

Other date in the books: Monday, 10 May 1982

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June 1982

Wednesday, 9 June 1982

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

A gigantic air battle took place over the Bekaa. The Israelis were 10 kilometers away from Beirut.

What the books addOn 9 June Israeli aircraft destroyed the Syrian SAM missile batteries in the Bekaa and fought a long air battle with Syrian MiGs. Figures: 22 MiGs downed and 19 batteries destroyed that day (Ménargues); more than 80 planes and all missile batteries lost in five days (Picard). The same evening Israeli paratroopers took Damour, on the coast south of Beirut.

Other dates in the books: Tuesday, 8 June 1982, Thursday, 10 June 1982

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Friday, 18 June 1982

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

The Beirut International Airport was also bombed.

Other date in the books: Sunday, 6 June 1982

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July 1982

Friday, 9 July 1982

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

While Beirut and its suburbs were severely bombed, Damascus refused to receive the Fedayin.

What the books addIn Ménargues, Damascus unofficially signalled no objection to transit through Latakia on 7 July, then officially refused the fighters on 9 July, the day Israeli troops took the Beit Eddine army barracks.

Other date in the books: Wednesday, 7 July 1982

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September 1982

Saturday, 18 September 1982

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

Hundreds of women, elderly persons, men and children were massacred in the Palestinian camps of Sabra and Chatila. This ignominious act shook the world. Some militias were accused of committing the crime. Nevertheless, as usual in Lebanon, the identity of the murderers remained unknown while the victims were all innocent persons. .

What the books addThe massacre lasted from the evening of Thursday 16 September to the morning of Saturday 18 September (Traboulsi gives 15-17, Hanf 17-18). The killers were militiamen of the Lebanese Forces' security service under Elie Hobeika, together with men of Saad Haddad's South Lebanon militia. The Israeli army, which controlled the area after entering West Beirut on 15 September, let them into the camps, lit the camps with flares at night and watched from command posts nearby. Israel's Kahan Commission, published on 7 February 1983, held the Phalangists directly responsible and found Defence Minister Ariel Sharon personally responsible, recommending his removal; it also attributed indirect responsibility to other Israeli political and military leaders. Estimates of the dead range from about 460-800 to 3,500; Bayan Nuwayhed al-Hout's survey found victims of twelve nationalities, about half Palestinian and more than a quarter Lebanese.

Art and memory

film Ari Folman's autobiographical animated documentary Waltz with Bashir (2008) showed how central Israeli soldiers were to the massacre.
film Massaker (2005), by Lokman Slim and Monika Borgmann, records former Lebanese Forces militiamen describing their part in the massacre.
testimony Jean Genet entered Chatila on 19 September 1982; de Clerck and Malsagne count his 'Four Hours in Shatila' (1983) among the war's most harrowing accounts.
artwork Drawing on Genet's text, Iraqi painter Dia al-Azzawi made nine prints in 1983; his polyptych Sabra and Shatila Massacre (1982-83) is now at Tate Modern.
novel Sorj Chalandon, Libération's man in Lebanon, was among the first into the camps; his 2013 novel Le Quatrième Mur depicts the massacre.
book Bayan Nuwayhed al-Hout's Sabra and Shatila, September 1982 (2004) surveys the victims and records witnesses' descriptions of the killers.
novel In activism and in fiction, notably Bab al-Shams (Gate of the Sun), Elias Khoury sought to make Palestinians' war experience part of Lebanese memory.
novel In Rawi Hage's De Niro's Game (2006), George returns from the Sabra and Shatila massacre, in which he took part, and describes the killings.

Other dates in the books: Wednesday, 15 September 1982, Thursday, 16 September 1982, Friday, 17 September 1982

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October 1982

Saturday, 9 October 1982

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

The situation in the capital was back to its normal course of action, since the policemen were addressing citations to drivers, the campaign against squatters was intensified, and the confiscation of weapons continued.

What the books addHistorians describe this 'return to normal' as harsh for West Beirut. The army's first task was to evict squatters, most of them refugees from the south, and street hawkers, with no rehousing (Hanf). Police backed by bulldozers razed shanty areas in Ouzai and Raml al-Ali and fired on protesting residents (Traboulsi). Fisk describes arrests of anyone without valid papers on 3 October, when thousands of troops sealed off a whole district. Hundreds of Palestinians and Lebanese Muslims seized in these weeks disappeared.

Other dates in the books: Tuesday, 21 September 1982, Sunday, 3 October 1982

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October 1984

Tuesday, 9 October 1984

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

Fouad Abou Nader is elected commander of the Lebanese Forces.
On 9 October the Lebanese Forces elected the President's candidate, Fouad Abou Nader, Amine Gemayel's nephew and Pierre Gemayel's grandson; it was seen as a Kataeb win. The 'intifada' of 12 March 1985 ousted him.

Sources differ: Ménargues says Gemayel removed Fadi Frem in October 1984; that agrees on the month.

Other date in the books: Tuesday, 12 March 1985

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May 1985

Thursday, 9 May 1985

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

The executive committee of the Lebanese Forces elected Elie Hobeika president and Samir Geagea chief of staff.

What the books addDates differ: 9 May (de Clerck and Malsagne), 12 May (Hanf, who describes a meeting of the LF command council after Geagea had signed a declaration of loyalty to state institutions), 9 September (Traboulsi). Geagea kept the post of chief of staff.

Other dates in the books: Tuesday, 12 March 1985, Sunday, 12 May 1985, Saturday, 28 December 1985

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March 1986

Sunday, 9 March 1986

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

The black series continued. Terrorism hit this time Jeetaoui where a car bomb killed 3 persons and wounded 40 others.
Four French journalists from Antenne 2 were kidnapped in Bir El Abed.

What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne date the kidnapping of the Antenne 2 crew to 8 March 1986. It was claimed by the "Revolutionary Justice Organisation".

Other date in the books: Saturday, 8 March 1986

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September 1986

Thursday, 18 September 1986

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

While a terrorist vague submerged France, the French military attaché, Christian Goutierre was assassinated in Mar Takla.

What the books addHe was shot in the head 25 m from the ambassador's office, a day after the rue de Rennes attack in Paris (7 dead, 55 wounded).

Other date in the books: Wednesday, 17 September 1986

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May 1987

Monday, 18 May 1987

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

The Marxist thinker Mahdi Amel (Hassan Hamdan) is assassinated.
Hassan Hamdan, known as Mahdi Amel, a philosopher and leading theorist of the Lebanese Communist Party, was assassinated. Hanf says his Shi'i background made him especially hated, branded an 'atheist traitor'.

Sources differ: Responsibility: Hanf names Amal supporters; de Clerck and Malsagne place the killing in the context of the Hezbollah-Communist break without naming the killers.

Art and memory

book Hanf's annotated list of Arabic writing on the war includes Mahdi Amel's 1979 work on the causes of the civil war, Theory in Political Practice, and describes its author as a Shi'i philosophy professor and Communist Party member.

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January 1988

Monday, 18 January 1988

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

Amal lifts its blockade of the Palestinian camps.
Amal ended the blockade of the Palestinian camps it had kept up since 1985. Hanf gives two reasons: the West Bank intifada, which made Syria and Amal look like Israel's accomplices if they kept squeezing the camps, and Amal's coming fight with Hezbollah.

Sources differ: Existing entry 1053 (20 January) describes Syrian and Sixth Brigade deployment around Chatila and Bourj al-Barajneh. Picard's chronology dates an agreement ending the war of the camps to 11 September 1987; Hanf (p. 304) also says the war ended only in late 1988.

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September 1988

Sunday, 18 September 1988

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

Mikhael Daher, deputy from the North, 'was designated' candidate at the presidential elections in accordance with a Syrian-American agreement. This designation did not please everyone.

What the books addHanf (pp. 569-570): the joint US-Syrian proposal came out of three days of talks in Damascus from 15 September, after which Murphy warned the Maronite Patriarch that the alternative to Daher was chaos.

Other date in the books: Thursday, 15 September 1988

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November 1988

Wednesday, 9 November 1988

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

Adel Osseirane names General Sami Khatib, former Chief of the Arab Strike Force, Chief Commander of the Army.

What the books addDe Clerck (p. 283) dates the appointment to 10 November and says Hoss made it; Hanf (p. 571) says early November. On 12 November Aoun's cabinet referred al-Khatib to the military court.

Other date in the books: Thursday, 10 November 1988

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February 1990

Friday, 9 February 1990

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

New dividing lines appeared in the Eastern region and the medias war raged. Hospitals suffered from a serious penury and the Lebanese continued to flee by thousands. That week, 417 were killed and 1,655 wounded.

What the books addTotals for the whole army-Lebanese Forces war differ. De Clerck and Malsagne count over 1,500 victims, fighters and civilians, and say the first three weeks claimed more than the six months of the 1989 war against Syria; the army alone lost 21 officers and 221 soldiers, about 100,000 people moved elsewhere in Lebanon and close to 200,000 went abroad. Hanf estimates about 1,000 dead and 3,500 wounded; Picard 1,000 dead and 3,000 wounded for January-July; Fisk 'well over a thousand' dead in Beirut from end January to end May.

Other date in the books: Wednesday, 31 January 1990

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January 1991

Wednesday, 9 January 1991

After the war · From the books

Parliament votes confidence in Omar Karami's cabinet of former warlords.
Karami's thirty-minister cabinet, formed on 24 December 1990, won thirty-four votes of the forty deputies attending. Its policy statement took up the whole Taif agenda: militias dissolved, Syrian treaties, the displaced home, rebuilding. Seven militia leaders, Berri, Jumblatt, Geagea and Hobeika included, were ministers of state.

Other date in the books: Monday, 24 December 1990

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April 1996

Thursday, 18 April 1996

After the war · From the books

Israeli shells kill 106 refugees in the UN compound at Qana.
A UN inquiry judged an error unlikely, largely on the strength of a soldier's video of an Israeli drone above the Fijian battalion's base, where some 560 villagers had taken shelter. The shelling lasted seventeen minutes, until 2.25 p.m.; more than half of the dead were children.

Sources differ: 106 dead (Fisk, de Clerck, Haugbolle), 107 (Picard), 102 (Quéméner calendar). Number of refugees: 560 (Fisk). Quéméner alone says UN soldiers were killed.

Art and memory

memorial Qana Day, 18 April, became a state day of national remembrance in 1997, with gatherings, exhibitions and a permanent museum display at Qana; the victims share a marble-covered grave beside the former UN base.
book Robert Fisk's chapter 'The Massacre' in Pity the Nation is built on survivors' testimony and the UN soldier's video of the drone.

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