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1976, 2016

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49 entries on 44 dates · the books disagree on 49

January 1976

Wednesday, 7 January 1976

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

The Palestinian camps of Tell El Zaatar and Jisr El Bacha being under a blockade, 1200 armed elements attacked the region of Horsh Tabet. Pitched battles opposed Phalangist and Fedayin activists.

What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne date the siege of Tal al-Za'tar from 4 January 1976 to the camp's fall on 12 August. According to Hanf, Interior Minister Camille Chamoun had Internal Security Forces units join the assault.

Other date in the books: Sunday, 4 January 1976

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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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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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Tuesday, 20 January 1976

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

Damour massacre
Avenging the massacre of Karantina by Christian forces 2 days before, Palestinians and leftist Muslims attacked the Christian city of Damour, located about 20 kilometers south of Beirut, and murdered 350 civilians.

What the books addThe siege of Damour had begun on 9 January, before the fall of Karantina; the main massacre began on 20 January (Hanf, Ménargues, Fisk, de Clerck and Malsagne; Traboulsi gives 22 or 24 January). Jiyeh fell the same day. The attackers were mainly PLA, Saiqa and Fatah units, with Lebanese leftist parties. Estimates of the dead range from about 150 bodies found plus 200 missing (Fisk) and 300-584 (de Clerck and Malsagne) to about 900 (Ménargues); some 5,000 people fled by land and sea.

Art and memory

film Ziad Doueiri's The Insult (2017) recalls the Damour massacre.
photograph The German magazine Stern published a photograph taken during the Damour massacre of January 1976.
novel Farid and Michel Gharib's novel Damour, Man Anti (1978) tells of Damour up to the massacre.

Other dates in the books: Friday, 9 January 1976, Friday, 16 January 1976, Monday, 19 January 1976, Thursday, 22 January 1976, Saturday, 24 January 1976

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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.

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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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Friday, 30 January 1976

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

Lieutenant Ahmed Khatib left the Hasbaya barracks and announced the creation, in the Bekaa, of the Army of Arab Lebanon.

What the books addHistorians date Lieutenant Ahmad al-Khatib's breakaway to 21 January (de Clerck and Malsagne, in the Bekaa) or 22 January (Julie Tegho Bou Nassif, from the diary of the Greek Catholic bishop of Zahleh); Hanf places the mutiny in the south. About 300-400 Muslim soldiers followed him at first. The entry of 30 January may record a later step.

Other dates in the books: Wednesday, 21 January 1976, Thursday, 22 January 1976

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February 1976

Saturday, 7 February 1976

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

President Frangieh and Prime Minister Karami go to Damascus.
Sleiman Frangieh and Rashid Karami travelled to Damascus, where, with President Assad, they agreed on the text of a 'Constitutional Document' to reform the distribution of power.

Sources differ: Traboulsi's chronology gives 7 February as the day Frangieh declared the Document.

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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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March 1976

Thursday, 11 March 1976

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

After a day marked by the resignation of Rachid Karameh and the aggravation of the war of barracks in Tripoli, a military Coup was executed by Corporal Aziz Ahdab, commanding the place of Beirut. Corporal Ahdab was supported by the Commander of the army, 270 loyalist officers, Syria, and the Palestine Liberation Army. He claimed the resignation of Sleiman Frangieh, but the President refused to give up and locked himself in Baabda.

What the books addOn 11 March Brigadier-General Aziz al-Ahdab, Beirut garrison commander (retired, says Traboulsi), seized the television station, named himself interim military governor and called for Frangieh's resignation and an early election. Few troops stood behind him and Syria opposed him: on 15 March PLA and Saiqa units under Syrian control blocked his men and Khatib's Lebanese Arab Army on their way to Baabda. Backed by Chamoun, Gemayel and President Assad, Frangieh refused to go.

Other date in the books: Monday, 15 March 1976

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Monday, 15 March 1976

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

Lieutenant Ahmed Khatib, chief of the ' Army of Arab Lebanon ', rejoined Ahdab's reformist movement. Barracks fell in the hands of protesters. 68 deputies signed a petition claiming the departure of Sleiman Frangieh who refused to leave his post, despite all the pressures against him.

What the books addThe deputies' petition demanding Frangieh's resignation is dated 11 March in Traboulsi's chronology and 13 March by de Clerck and Malsagne; Picard and Traboulsi's chronology count 68 signatures out of 99, Traboulsi's narrative 69. On 15 March Syrian-controlled PLA and Saiqa units halted a march on the Baabda palace by the Lebanese Arab Army and al-Ahdab's followers. Within days Khatib's force grew to a few thousand men and held most of the army's heavy weapons.

Other dates in the books: Thursday, 11 March 1976, Saturday, 13 March 1976

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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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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

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Tuesday, 23 March 1976

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

The ' Beirut Battle ' continued amid shelling.
The past 48 hours resulted in 150 deaths and 300 injuries. The control of downtown was at stake. Moslem-Progressive forces backed by Palestinian organizations were determined to eliminate any Phalangist presence West of the Martyrs Square. The new front was established on the axis Starco Hilton, while Phalangist militiamen faced assaults launched from the Riad El Solh and the Nejmeh Squares towards the Port area. In the Mountain where artillery duels continued, a common Palestinian Progressive breakthrough attempt was turned down in Mansourieh.

What the books addHanf traces the line that went on dividing the city along the Damascus road and across Martyrs Square to the harbour. It was set once the Kataeb, losing the Holiday Inn, had no positions left in West Beirut.

Art and memory

film Jocelyne Saab's 1976 documentary Beyrouth, jamais plus captures a Beirut that was disappearing.

Other date in the books: Monday, 22 March 1976

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Wednesday, 24 March 1976

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

Israel sets the 'red lines' for a Syrian intervention.
An Israeli memorandum of 24 March 1976 barred any Syrian force above brigade strength or movement over 10 km south of the Beirut-Damascus road. On 23 March Israel had told Washington it would take strategic positions in Lebanon if Syria intervened.

Sources differ: Traboulsi adds that Israel publicly set the Litani as the red line on 21 April.

Other date in the books: Tuesday, 23 March 1976

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Thursday, 25 March 1976

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

The presidential palace at Baabda is shelled; Frangieh leaves for Kfour.
With the Baabda palace shelled by the Lebanese Arab Army and the Joint Forces, Frangieh moved to Kfour in Kesrouan, where he joined Chamoun, Gemayel and Father Qassis on the Lebanese Front, formed in late May.

Sources differ: Traboulsi says Frangieh took refuge 'in East Beirut'; de Clerck and Malsagne, Yara El Khoury and Hanf name Kfour in Kesrouan.

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

The unified command of the Lebanese Forces is announced.
Baabda palace was shelled that day. In the evening the Kataeb's Voice of Lebanon radio announced a unified command of the Lebanese Forces, joining the Tanzim, the Guardians of the Cedars, Chamoun's Tigers and the Kataeb militia.

Sources differ: Dates differ: Ménargues puts the founding of the Lebanese Forces' unified command on 31 August 1976, while El Khoury says the formal union was announced to Frangieh in early September.

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Saturday, 27 March 1976

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

Assad and Jumblatt break after a seven-hour meeting.
The lasting rupture between Kamal Jumblatt and President Assad came at a meeting of some seven hours in Damascus. Assad refused what Jumblatt sought, a decisive military defeat of the Lebanese Front and Frangieh's departure, saying the Constitutional Document already gave him most of it. The same day the Maronite leaders met the patriarch at Bkerké.

Sources differ: Ménargues reports a further long meeting in mid-May.

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Wednesday, 31 March 1976

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

US envoy Dean Brown arrives in Beirut.
Dean Brown recalled telling Maronite leaders that Syria, not American or international action, held the answer. Ford sent him to Beirut as envoy on Kissinger's advice; the US-brokered Syrian intervention took shape over his two-month stay.

Sources differ: Traboulsi's chronology gives 1 April.

Other date in the books: Thursday, 1 April 1976

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late March - early April 1976: day not established

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

The Joint Forces take Mtein and Aintoura in the Upper Metn.
Christian army units and militias halted Abu Musa's Fatah troops and their allies, who had taken Mtein, Tarchiche and Aintoura and were heading for Bikfaya, the Gemayels' home town; Pierre Gemayel had urged every Christian man and woman, by radio, to take up the defence.

Sources differ: Hanf says the last week of March; Traboulsi says early April.

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April 1976

Friday, 2 April 1976

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

A ten-day truce had bee decided, in order to elect a new President of the Republic after the expected departure of Sleiman Frangieh.

What the books addParliament used the truce to amend Article 73 of the constitution so that Frangieh's successor could be elected early: on 9 April according to Hanf, 10 April according to Yara El Khoury. The truce had coincided with the arrival on 31 March of the US envoy Dean Brown.

Other dates in the books: Wednesday, 31 March 1976, Friday, 9 April 1976, Saturday, 10 April 1976

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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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Monday, 12 April 1976

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

Assad attacks the National Movement and offers to intervene.
Pierre Gemayel called it a historic speech: in Damascus, President Assad said Syria was ready to send forces into Lebanon to protect any oppressed group, Christian or Muslim, and attacked the PLO and National Movement leaders.

Sources differ: Traboulsi's chronology lists 'al-Asad's speech attacking LNM' under '13 March', apparently a misprint for 12 April.

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Thursday, 15 April 1976

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

Despite the extension of the truce, several fronts were set ablaze, including those in Beirut.
A new agreement, called the Damascus Agreement, was likely to be applied in the next 48 hours. Syrian and Resistance leaders had signed it. The agreement stipulated ending hostilities, reactivating the 'Supreme Military Committee', refusing the partition of Lebanon, rejecting American arrangements and plans in Lebanon, continuing the Syrian initiative and refusing the internationalization or the 'Arabization' of the Lebanese crisis. Also, an agreement had been reached stipulating the withdrawal of Syrian troops that entered the Bekaa region on April 10, back to the Masnaa borderline.

What the books addTraboulsi's chronology puts the Syrian-PLO accord to restore order in Beirut on 11 April. Around 9 April Syrian army tanks entered the Bekaa at Anjar, Judaydat Yabus and Bayadir al-Adas (Traboulsi), some forty in all according to Yara El Khoury, as Saiqa fighters set about ending the siege of Zahleh.

Other dates in the books: Friday, 9 April 1976, Sunday, 11 April 1976

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May 1976

Saturday, 1 May 1976

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

Despite the Damascus agreement, fights continued violently. The elections were postponed to May 8, the two candidates being Elias Sarkis and Raymond Eddeh.

What the books addAccounts differ. Hanf has Raymond Eddé stand 'on principle', protesting at outside manipulation, and so become the Left's candidate; Traboulsi and de Clerck and Malsagne have him boycott the vote, Traboulsi because it could not be free.

Other date in the books: Saturday, 8 May 1976

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Thursday, 27 May 1976

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

Linda Joumblatt, Kamal Joumblatt's 55 years old sister, was cowardly assassinated in her home in Beirut. A group of armed men broke into her apartment and opened fire on her. She was killed while her daughters Nouha, 28 years old, and Samar, 18 years old were injured.

What the books addOn 2 June Bashir Gemayel, having asked for a secret meeting with Kamal Jumblatt, offered him condolences and information on who had killed her. Traboulsi names her Linda al-Atrash and puts her apartment in East Beirut.

Other date in the books: Wednesday, 2 June 1976

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June 1976

Tuesday, 1 June 1976

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

Syrian troops intervened in the Akkar region to raise the siege imposed on Kobeyate by officer Maamari from the 'Army of Arab Lebanon.' The Syrian contingent counted approximately 2000 men. 600 other soldiers entered the Bekaa region with over 200 tanks.

What the books addHistorians date the entry of Syrian regular troops to 1 June 1976 (Ménargues gives 9 June). President Assad announced it in the presence of the visiting Soviet Prime Minister Kosygin, citing appeals from the Akkar villages of Qubayat and Andaqit, besieged since January and attacked by the Lebanese Arab Army on 27 May. Columns moved towards Akkar and Tripoli, Zahleh and the Bekaa, and Sidon by way of Jezzine. Estimates of the force range from 6,000 men at the start (with 260 armoured vehicles, according to Ménargues) to 12,000-15,000 within weeks, with 250-300 tanks (de Clerck and Malsagne).

Other date in the books: Wednesday, 9 June 1976

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Monday, 7 June 1976

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

Violent combats opposed pro-Syrian formations to Palestinian Progressive militiamen in several districts of Beirut. Syrian troops entered the capital where most Palestinian Progressive forces were concentrated.

What the books addIn Beirut in early June, Hanf writes, Fatah and its allies turned on Saiqa, the PLA and the pro-Syrian parties and cleared them from the city within a few hours. Syria's regular army stayed outside the capital for now: on 7 June its troops got as far as Sofar on the Beirut-Damascus road and into Sidon, where an armoured column was wiped out. Syrian forces reached Beirut only in mid-November, within the Arab Deterrent Force.

Other date in the books: Sunday, 14 November 1976

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

Syrian troops reach Sofar and Sidon; a Syrian armoured column is destroyed in Sidon.
Palestinian fighters and Lebanese Arab Army soldiers wrecked the Syrian armour sent into the centre of Sidon and forced it back, once Syrian columns had reached Sofar, on the Beirut-Damascus road, and the city's edge. Long Syrian shelling of the camps followed.

Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne place the 7 June fighting at Bhamdoun; Hanf at Sofar.

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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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Tuesday, 15 June 1976

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

The Lebanese Front approved the application of the solutions of the sub-summit, concerning the dispatch, to Lebanon, of a peace force including Libyan, Algerian, Syrian, Sudanese, Saudi, and Palestinian contingents.

What the books addPicard (2016) dates to 9 June 1976 the Arab League Council resolution, taken in Cairo, that created an Arab peace force. Hanf has some 2,000 Sudanese arriving first, then Libyans; Picard (2002) says Tripoli sent 500 men in June.

Other date in the books: Wednesday, 9 June 1976

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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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Sunday, 27 June 1976

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

The Phalange Party, the NLP, and the Guardians of the Cedar launched the 'Camps Battle'.

What the books addYara El Khoury dates the start of the final offensive on Jisr al-Basha and Tal al-Za'tar to 22 June 1976, and Hanf's account (Jisr al-Basha stormed eight days after the first assault, on 1 July) points to the same week. The camps had been blockaded since January. Hanf says Chamoun's Tigers and Christian units of the army led the attack, the Kataeb joining later; a joint command of Bashir Gemayel (Kataeb), Dany Chamoun and Nabil Karam (NLP), Fawzi Mahfouz (Tanzim) and Etienne Saqr (Guardians of the Cedar) coordinated it (de Clerck and Malsagne).

Other date in the books: Tuesday, 22 June 1976

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Tuesday, 29 June 1976

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

The Jisr al-Basha camp falls.
The small Palestinian camp of Jisr al-Basha, overlooking Tal al-Za'tar in East Beirut, fell to the Christian militias and army units, and was razed.

Sources differ: Hanf gives 1 July; Picard August; Yara El Khoury places its fall with Tal al-Za'tar on 12 August.

Other date in the books: Thursday, 1 July 1976

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June 1976: day not established

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

Major Saad Haddad founds the Army of Free Lebanon; Israel opens the 'Good Fence'.
Under Major Saad Haddad, a Greek Catholic the army command had tasked with regrouping loyal soldiers, the Christian army units around Marjayoun were co-opted by Israel, which let southern Lebanese cross for medical care, shopping and seasonal jobs. Cut off from Beirut, Haddad took Israeli aid, covertly at first.

Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date Haddad's militia to March 1976, Hanf to spring 1976, Traboulsi to June.

Art and memory

book Mahmoud Haydar's The End of the Good Fence (2001) traces the Israeli occupation of the south from the opening of the 'Good Fence' in 1976 to 2001.

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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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Thursday, 12 August 1976

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

Tell El Zaatar assault and massacre
After a siege that lasted 52 days, the Tell El Zaatar Palestinian camp fell in the hands of the Lebanese Forces as a result of an ultimate assault launched at dawn. It was in total confusion that the 12000 camp residents were evacuated. In retaliation, kidnappings were reported in West Beirut. 2000 people died in fighting during the entire siege, and 4000 were wounded. The surviving cilvilians were settled by The PLO in other camps and in Damour.

What the books addTal al-Za'tar fell on 12 August 1976 (13 August in Ménargues) after more than 70 assaults. Ménargues and Hanf count a siege of 52-53 days from the final offensive; de Clerck and Malsagne and Traboulsi count six months from the January blockade. An ICRC report cited by de Clerck and Malsagne puts the dead at about 2,500 residents and defenders and up to 800 attackers; many died trying to escape. The Tigers and the Guardians of the Cedar led the last assault, reportedly with Syrian and Israeli officers present. The camp was bulldozed and never rebuilt.

Art and memory

novel Liana Badr's novel The Eye of the Mirror tells of a girl growing up in Tal al-Za'tar during the siege of 1976.
artwork Ziad Rahbani made the siege of Tal al-Za'tar widely known through one of his musical works.
film Georges Hachem's film Balle perdue (2010) is set in late summer 1976 north of Beirut, in the lull that followed the fall of Tal al-Za'tar.
place Tal al-Za'tar was bulldozed after its fall in 1976; neither it nor Jisr al-Basha, both levelled that year, has been rebuilt.
testimony Nayla Hachem's testimony describes her relief work in 1976 at the siege of Tal al-Za'tar, the fall of Nabaa and the massacres; she was a nurse, later an ICRC delegate.
book In Camille Chamoun's war diary, Tal al-Za'tar's fall in August 1976 was a triumph of fighters of every class.
artwork The play Silence, ça tourne (2025) is built on the testimony of a Swedish nurse who survived the siege of Tal al-Za'tar.

Other dates in the books: Sunday, 4 January 1976, Friday, 13 August 1976

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Tuesday, 17 August 1976

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

The Upper-Metn battle started. Over 600 shells fell on Faraya-Oyoune El Simane while Palestinians and Progressive forces continued their insane bombing of the capital.

What the books addHanf has the Syrian army moving again only once Tal al-Za'tar had fallen, increasing pressure on the encircled Palestinian and leftist forces in the Upper Metn; these were expelled at the end of September.

Other date in the books: Thursday, 12 August 1976

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

Amine Gemayel lists atrocities attributed to the defenders of Tal al-Za'tar.
Days after Tal al-Za'tar fell, Amine Gemayel told a press conference the camp's Palestinian fighters and allies had committed some twenty atrocities. De Clerck and Malsagne cite this as leaders inventing or inflating enemy crimes to justify operations.

Other date in the books: Thursday, 12 August 1976

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Tuesday, 31 August 1976

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

The Christian militias form a unified command, the Lebanese Forces.
Drawing lessons from Tal al-Za'tar, where Christian forces had fought under separate commands, Bashir Gemayel set up a unified command council, headed by himself, with two members per militia.

Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date the official founding of the unified command to 25 March 1976 (see addition 1976-03-25-lf-command).

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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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late September 1976: day not established

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

Kataeb militiamen kill Druze civilians at Salima.
During the Syrian counter-offensive in the Upper Metn, 29 Druze civilians were killed in Salima by the Kataeb's 'B.J.' unit under Maroun al-Mashaalani, joined by young men from Damour. They were avenging comrades killed at Aley.

Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne give the end of September on p. 158 and October 1976 on p. 178.

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October 1976

Sunday, 17 October 1976

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

A restricted summit was held in Ryad.
While shells kept falling by hundreds on residential neighborhoods in Beirut, killing and injuring tens of persons, an Arab summit was held in Ryad attended by Presidents Elias Sarkis, Anwar Sadate, Hafez El Assad, the Emir of Kuwait, King Khaled of Saudi Arabia, and Yasser Arafat chairman of the PLO.
This meeting aimed at reaching an agreement ending the Lebanese crisis. It contained the following clauses:
•Starting October 21, putting a final end to fights on all the Lebanese territory.
•Reinforcing the Arab Peace Force in Lebanon
•Entrusting the Arab Strike Force counting 30,000 men, with the duty of ending the combats and repressing any party that violates the cease-fire. It was also in charge of executing the Cairo agreement, as well as maintaining security in the country, collecting heavy armaments and helping the Lebanese authorities to regain control of all public services and institutions.

What the books addRatified by an Arab summit in Cairo on 25 October, the Riyadh decisions required all parties to surrender heavy weapons and the Palestinians to return to the zones granted by the 1969 Cairo Agreement, and created a 30,000-man Arab Deterrent Force under President Sarkis, its largest contingent by far, 25,000-27,000 men, being the Syrian troops already in Lebanon. Saudi Arabia had sent the invitations on 15 October; the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon met the PLO chairman in Riyadh on 16, 17 or 18 October, depending on the historian. The cease-fire's start is dated 16 October (Hanf), 21 October (Traboulsi) or 15 November (de Clerck and Malsagne).

Other dates in the books: Friday, 15 October 1976, Saturday, 16 October 1976, Monday, 18 October 1976

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October 1976: day not established

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

The Christian village of Aichieh is destroyed.
Two southern villages were emptied in turn: Christian Aichieh, attacked and its people expelled in revenge for the fall of Marjayoun, then Muslim Khiam, whose people Christian militias drove out.

Sources differ: Hanf attributes the attack to the Lebanese Arab Army on p. 344 and to 'the Palestinians and their Lebanese allies' on p. 227.

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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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Monday, 15 November 1976

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

Phase 2 of the peace plan started.
The Arab Strike Force including mainly Syrians started to advance on various axes leading to the heart of the capital, as well as the Chouf, the Kesrouan, and Jbeil. 8,000 infantrymen and 250 armored vehicles converged towards the districts of Beirut and the front line.

What the books addHanf puts the entry of about 6,000 Syrian soldiers, in the peace force's green helmets, into East and West Beirut on 14 November. Fisk's report in The Times of 16 November dated their occupation of the whole city to the previous morning, with 6,000 men and hundreds of tanks; the last firing, near the port, ended on 16 November, Fisk recounts.

Other dates in the books: Sunday, 14 November 1976, Tuesday, 16 November 1976

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December 1976

December 1976: day not established

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

Raymond Eddé leaves for exile in Paris.
National Bloc leader Raymond Eddé, targeted in three assassination attempts, chose exile in Paris (December 1976 per Picard, January 1977 per de Clerck and Malsagne), rejecting the militia system.

Sources differ: Picard gives December 1976; de Clerck and Malsagne January 1977.

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