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27 entries on 26 dates · the books disagree on 27

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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February 1978

Tuesday, 7 February 1978

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

A serious incident occurred in Fayadieh.
Lebanese Soldiers fought with elements of the Arab Strike Force. Shots were exchanged followed by heavy armaments shootings.

What the books addHistorians date the Fayadiyeh incident to 7 February (de Clerck and Malsagne), 8 February (Hanf) or 17 February (Ménargues). It began when Syrian soldiers set up a roadblock in front of the Military Academy; officer cadets, led according to de Clerck and Malsagne by Captain Samir (Sami) al-Achkar, fought back and Syrian artillery shelled the barracks. Syrian losses are given as 13 dead and 36 wounded (de Clerck and Malsagne), over 30 dead (Ménargues) or 220 dead and 30 wounded (Hanf). As fighting spread into East Beirut, about a hundred people died when Syrian guns shelled Badaro, Ain el-Remmaneh and Karm el-Zeitoun. Sarkis and Damascus settled the affair with a joint Lebanese-Syrian military court. De Clerck and Malsagne date the Syria-Christian split to it.

Other dates in the books: Wednesday, 8 February 1978, Friday, 17 February 1978

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Wednesday, 8 February 1978

The Lebanese war · Added from the books range (about 8-14 February)

Fighting spreads from Fayadiyeh to East Beirut.
About a hundred people died when Syrian guns hit Badaro, Ain el-Remmaneh and Karm el-Zeitoun, as the Fayadiyeh clash spread the next day to Beirut's Christian districts. National Liberal Party and Kataeb fighters attacked Syrian positions; Syrian troops in Achrafieh's Rizk Tower shelled the eastern suburbs, and artillery struck the army headquarters at Yarze.

Sources differ: Depends on the date of the Fayadiyeh clash: 7 February (de Clerck and Malsagne), 8 February (Hanf) or 17 February (Ménargues). Duration three days (de Clerck and Malsagne) or about a week (Hanf).

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March 1978

Saturday, 11 March 1978

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

A Fatah commando lands near Haifa and hijacks a bus on the coastal road; 37 Israelis are killed.
Nine Fatah gunmen from Lebanon came ashore near Haifa, shot several people on a beach and seized a bus, which they drove towards Tel Aviv. All nine and many of the passengers died when Israeli troops halted it; the Israeli toll was 37. Three days later Israel invaded South Lebanon.

Sources differ: Hanf dates the attack to 14 March and gives 34 dead; Fisk and Quéméner give 37 dead. Fisk's 11 March agrees with de Clerck and Malsagne's 'three days' before 14 March, but Fisk calls it a Sunday, whereas 11 March 1978 was a Saturday.

Other date in the books: Tuesday, 14 March 1978

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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, 15 March 1978

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

Israeli aircraft bomb the Palestinian camps of Beirut, Tyre and Damour.
Operation Litani brought Israeli air raids on the Palestinian camps of Beirut and Tyre and on Damour, which had taken in survivors of Tal al-Za'tar. In the south, Israeli forces killed at least 200 Fatah fighters.

Sources differ: Entry 176 (14 March) already mentions air raids on Damour, Ouzai and Tyre.

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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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Tuesday, 21 March 1978

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

Israel announces a ceasefire in the south; Operation Litani ends.
Fisk puts the cost of Operation Litani at as many as 2,000 Lebanese and Palestinian dead and 20 Israelis. On 21 March, its last day, Israel announced a ceasefire, but its guns shelled Tyre from nine that morning; it held the south up to the Litani except the Tyre pocket.

Other date in the books: Tuesday, 14 March 1978

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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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Thursday, 23 March 1978

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

The first UNIFIL troops, French paratroopers, enter Tyre.
Armed Palestinian fighters still held Tyre's streets when Colonel Jean Germain Salvan's French paratroop battalion, the vanguard of the new UN force, drove in. At the handover of the Hassan Borro barracks, a quarrel between Palestinians and Lebanese officers came close to gunfire.

Sources differ: Entry 179 dates the first arrival of UN troops to 22 March.

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Wednesday, 29 March 1978

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

The Arab Strike Force's mandate was extended for another 6 months.

Other date in the books: Saturday, 28 October 1978

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May 1978

Thursday, 11 May 1978

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

Sleiman Frangieh leaves the Lebanese Front.
The Lebanese Front's links with Israel led former president Sleiman Frangieh to quit it, costing the Front its hold on the Christian north.

Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne (p. 288) also date his withdrawal to after the Ehden killings, which would be later in June.

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Friday, 12 May 1978

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

Seiman Frangieh and Rachid Karameh reconciled under the auspices of the Syrian commander of the Arab Strike Force in Northern Lebanon.

What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne record that Frangieh had quit the Lebanese Front the day before over its ties with Israel. The reconciliation, Hanf notes, made the north a pro-Syrian bloc.

Other date in the books: Thursday, 11 May 1978

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June 1978

Tuesday, 13 June 1978

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

A dramatic event was reported in Zghorta. A chock commando killed Tony Frangieh, deputy and son of the President Sleiman Frangieh, his wife Vera and their daughter Jihane, at their home in Ehden. The murder of Tony Frangieh took place while the conflict between the Phalange Party and the Zghortiotes was at its peak.

What the books addHistorians date the Ehden killings to 13 June (de Clerck and Malsagne) or 14 June (Hanf). A unit of some 200 men (Traboulsi) led by Samir Geagea attacked the Frangieh residence; besides Tony Frangieh, his wife and their three-year-old daughter, about thirty relatives and supporters were killed. The Phalange presented the raid as retaliation for the killing of their local leader Jud al-Bayeh in early June; Bashir Gemayel denied ordering the killing of the family. The raid also turned on control of the Chekka cement works. Syrian troops then occupied Ehden and much of the north.

Art and memory

book De Clerck and Malsagne refer to a 2016 article by Dan Naor on how the Frangieh family made Ehden a resistance myth.
testimony Women mourners keened at Tony Frangieh's funeral in 1978 until his father, the former president, stepped in to quiet them.

Other date in the books: Wednesday, 14 June 1978

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

Israel completes its withdrawal but hands the border strip to Major Haddad.
UNIFIL was kept out of a border belt 5 to 10 km deep that stayed in the hands of Major Saad Haddad's militia when Israeli troops officially left South Lebanon.

Sources differ: Hanf gives 12 June; Picard says July.

Other date in the books: Monday, 12 June 1978

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Wednesday, 28 June 1978

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

A massacre of a unique atrocity was perpetrated in the North of the Bekaa region.
Forty persons from the Christian town of Kaa and its surroundings were kidnapped from their homes at night. 26 were executed at dawn, and their bodies were left in a mass grave. The Lebanese population and especially the Greek Catholic community, to which the victims belonged, were terrorized and distressed.

What the books addThe Qaa massacre is dated to the night of 27-28 June (de Clerck and Malsagne) or to 29 June (Hanf); Ras Baalbek and Jdeidet al-Fakiha were also raided. De Clerck and Malsagne blame Syrians in civilian clothes, carrying name lists and guided by local Christian members of the SSNP and the Communist Party, and see the killings as revenge for Ehden. Hanf counts 26 dead, de Clerck and Malsagne 32 to 36. The community's Supreme Council asked that a day of national mourning be held.

Other dates in the books: Tuesday, 27 June 1978, Thursday, 29 June 1978

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early June 1978: day not established

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

The Kataeb leader Jud al-Bayeh is killed in the north.
Bashir Gemayel cited the killing of Jud al-Bayeh, bank employee, mayor of Kfardlakos and local Kataeb chief, to justify the Ehden attack; Frangieh's Marada were blamed.

Sources differ: Hanf places the murder a few days after the May reconciliation and calls the victim a bank director in Chekka; Ménargues gives early June.

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July 1978

range (July - 7 October) 1978: day not established

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

The 'Hundred Days War': the Syrian army besieges and shells East Beirut.
The fighting pitted Bashir Gemayel's militia, which attacked Syrian positions such as the Rizk Tower, against Syria's Arab Deterrent Force contingent, which shelled Achrafieh, the eastern suburbs, the Metn and Kesrouan from July to early October. Death tolls run from about 450 (de Clerck and Malsagne) to at least 700 Christians, mostly civilians (Fisk), and some 150,000 people were displaced. Syria withdrew from East Beirut, and Bashir Gemayel emerged as leader of the Christian camp.

Sources differ: Start dated 1 July (original entry 200 and Hanf's account of the shelling after Qaa) or end of July after Bashir Gemayel's arrest (Ménargues). Picard (p. 119) speaks of intense bombardment in July and October.

Art and memory

photograph Beirut's ruins in 1978 were photographed by Raymond Depardon of Magnum and by Yan Morvan, sent by Sipa on assignment for Newsweek.
place Rockets hit the Rizk Hospital in Achrafieh during the Hundred Days War (July-October 1978); Syrian mortars and rocket launchers stood about a hundred metres away, in the Rizk Tower.

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August 1978

Friday, 25 August 1978

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

Imam Musa al-Sadr travels to Libya, where he disappears.
Imam Musa al-Sadr, the Shi'i leader who founded the Movement of the Deprived and Amal, vanished after accepting an invitation to visit Libya.

Sources differ: Hanf says September; Fisk reported the disappearance on 13 September; original entry 212 has 10 September.

Art and memory

book Fouad Ajami's book on the imam, The Vanished Imam: Musa al-Sadr and the Shia of Lebanon (1986).

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September 1978

Sunday, 10 September 1978

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

Imam Moussa Sadr, a Shiite leader disappeared while visiting Libya. Libyans asserted that he left Tripoli for Rome. Sadr never arrived to Rome, and the Lebanese were worried.

What the books addMusa al-Sadr travelled to Libya on 25 August (de Clerck and Malsagne) at the invitation of the Libyan government (Ménargues) and was never seen again; Hanf dates the disappearance to September. Beirut papers speculated about the Shah's secret police or Libyan intelligence. Fisk writes that he was almost certainly killed in Libya. The loss mobilised the Shi'a and later strengthened Amal.

Other dates in the books: Friday, 25 August 1978, Wednesday, 13 September 1978

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Sunday, 17 September 1978

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

Egypt and Israel sign the Camp David accords.
Syria could not prevent the Camp David accords, which Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin signed with President Carter as sponsor. Damascus drew closer to the PLO, and within days its guns were again heavily shelling East Beirut.

Sources differ: Hanf gives 18 September and calls it the 'peace treaty'; the treaty itself was signed in March 1979 (Traboulsi).

Other date in the books: Monday, 18 September 1978

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October 1978

Tuesday, 3 October 1978

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

France took the initiative of a cease-fire in Beirut and suggested the repositioning of the Arab Strike Force, as well as the interposition of a Lebanese Force between the belligerents.

Other date in the books: Monday, 16 October 1978

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Wednesday, 4 October 1978

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

The bombardments reached Bikfaya and Beit-Mery while in East Beirut there was a shortage of food and medications. The Security Council called for the urgent ending of the combats.

What the books addAccording to de Clerck and Malsagne, the Security Council's call for a ceasefire came on 6 October.

Other date in the books: Friday, 6 October 1978

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Saturday, 7 October 1978

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

The Syrian shelling of East Beirut stops; Sarkis asks for the ADF mandate to be extended.
Syria stopped shelling East Beirut on 7 October, one day after the UN Security Council demanded a ceasefire. Also on 7 October, President Sarkis publicly asked for the Arab Deterrent Force's mandate to be extended beyond its expiry on 28 October. Syria kept its blockade in place until the Arab League had renewed the mandate.

Sources differ: Original entry 219 puts the Security Council's ceasefire call on 4 October; entry 220 has residents leaving the shelters on 8 October.

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Sunday, 8 October 1978

The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology

Residents of Achrafieh stepped out of their shelters only to realize the magnitude of the damages. Despite the respect of the cease-fire agreed upon by Presidents Elias Sarkis and Hafez Assad, the region was still under blockade.

What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne date the end of the shelling to 7 October. On that day President Sarkis asked in public for the Arab Deterrent Force's mandate, due to lapse on 28 October, to be extended, and Syria maintained its blockade until the renewal.

Other date in the books: Saturday, 7 October 1978

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mid-late October 1978: day not established

The Lebanese war · Added from the books

Syrian troops leave the Rizk Tower and East Beirut; Saudi troops take over.
The Syrian paratroopers who had held the Rizk Tower through a four-week siege by Christian militiamen loaded their kit and left. Saudi contingents of the Arab Deterrent Force replaced them in Beirut's Christian sector.

Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne (p. 80) say the Syrians withdrew from Achrafieh only after the Arab League renewed the ADF mandate.

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December 2002

December 2002: day not established

After the war · From the books

Rustom Ghazaleh replaces Ghazi Kanaan as Syria's intelligence chief in Lebanon.
Kanaan had ruled from Anjar since 1982, vetting candidates and shaping the 2000 electoral map; his recall signalled Bashar al-Assad's tighter grip on Lebanon. Ghazaleh, his replacement, was implicated in Al-Madina bank's 2003 collapse.

Sources differ: Farewell ceremony 9 October 2002 versus replacement in December 2002.

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