76 entries on 63 dates · the books disagree on 76
dates 1–60 of 63 next
January 1989
Tuesday, 10 January 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The extraordinary conference of Arab ministers of Foreign Affairs was held in Tunis without the Lebanese delegation although the conference covered primarily the Lebanese crisis.
What the books addHanf: Syria, isolated among Arab states, reluctantly accepted the Lebanon commission the Arab League's Council of Ministers set up on 12 January under Kuwait's foreign minister. Iraq launched it to check Syria.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 12 January 1989
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Monday, 30 January 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Following negotiations conducted in Damascus, the pro-Syrian Amal movement and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah sign an agreement putting an end to their armed conflict that cost the life of 400 persons in 10 months.
What the books addThe dates differ: Hanf says Amal and Hezbollah suspended their war on 25 January, and also writes that the Syrian-Iranian ceasefire took until the spring. De Clerck and Malsagne date the ceasefire to February 1989. Picard names Syria and Iran as sponsors. Death tolls depend on the source and the period: some sources put civilian deaths at about 2,000 for 1988-1990 (de Clerck and Malsagne); an al-Nahar-based count gives 635 dead across 147 incidents between 1985 and 1991; Georges Corm estimated 2,000 dead for 1988-1989.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 25 January 1989
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February 1989
Tuesday, 14 February 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
New confrontations between the army and the L.F. were taking place in Monteverde and next to the Justice Palace in Beirut, which created a general mobilization on both sides.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne date the first army-LF clash to 14 February: after 18 hours of fighting the army had the upper hand. Hanf dates the start to 10 February.
Other date in the books: Friday, 10 February 1989
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Thursday, 16 February 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
An agreement on military disengagement is concluded between the Army and the L.F., within in a four-party committee.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne have a truce under the Maronite Patriarch's patronage from 17 February. Hanf says Aoun accepted a ceasefire once the militia agreed to hand over Dock Five of the port and the Bourbara checkpoint.
Other date in the books: Friday, 17 February 1989
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March 1989
Friday, 3 March 1989
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
General Aoun orders a naval blockade of the militia ports of Khalde, Jiyeh and Ouzai.
Aoun had the navy and helicopter units close Khalde, Jiyeh and Ouzai, ports the PSP and Amal had kept, though Syria had officially warned him off militias beyond his own area. Frangieh's Marada had given Selaata port to the army.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date the closure order to 6 March (see entry 1129).
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Monday, 6 March 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Yarzeh reactivated 'The Maritime Operations Room:' instructed to watch the navigation movement in the Lebanese waters and to prevent boats from entering the illegal harbours of the country. Sami Khatib (chief commander of the army in the Western sector) closed the access to the port in retort to what was considered a blockade.
What the books addHanf puts Aoun's order to blockade Khalde, Jiyeh and Ouzai, the ports held by the PSP and Amal, on 3 March; de Clerck and Malsagne place the closure of the illegal ports on 6 March. Syria had warned Aoun against acting beyond 'his' area. Beirut and Jounieh harbours and the airport then all shut, Syrian and PSP guns shelling the first two, the army the third.
Other date in the books: Friday, 3 March 1989
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March – September 1989: day not established
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Hundreds of thousands flee the shelling of Beirut.
Estimates differ. De Clerck and Malsagne count 600,000 people fleeing north to Jounieh and Jbeil from East Beirut and its south-eastern suburbs, and 400,000 heading south from West Beirut and the southern suburbs; another chapter gives 250,000 Beirutis going south. Fisk reckons only about 100,000 civilians stayed in Beirut.
Sources differ: The two figures in de Clerck and Malsagne (1,000,000 in all, or 250,000 going south) count different things. Fisk's figure counts the people who remained, not those who left.
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April 1989
Tuesday, 11 April 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The French Secretary of State to the Human Action, Bernard Kouchner, arrives in Beirut in order to prepare and explain the arrival of the hospital ship 'La Rance' and the oil tanker 'Penhors'.
What the books addBadly wounded people from East and West Beirut were evacuated on French ships. Hanf says France sent its hospital ship and petrol tanker to back Aoun, then, after Syrian threats, called them humanitarian aid for all Lebanese.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 22 April 1989
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May 1989
Tuesday, 2 May 1989
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Aoun recasts his 'war of liberation' as a diplomatic campaign; Syrian shelling starts again.
Within a week Syrian shelling of the enclave was back at full intensity; Hanf says Syria and its allies kept the Arab League ceasefire only a few days. Aoun, having accepted it, recast his war as a diplomatic struggle.
Sources differ: Hanf gives 2 May both for Aoun's statement and for the renewed shelling; the shelling date may be a misprint.
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Wednesday, 3 May 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Lakhdar Ibrahimi, General Secretary of the Arab League, arrives in Beirut looking to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
What the books addLakhdar Brahimi was Deputy (assistant) Secretary-General of the Arab League, not its Secretary-General. After the Casablanca summit he headed the troika's secretariat in Jeddah.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 23 May 1989
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June 1989
Monday, 12 June 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The EEC gives its full support to the committee composed by the three Chiefs of State (Algerian, Saudi Arabian, and Moroccan) constituted during the Casablanca Summit in order to find a solution to the Lebanese crisis.
What the books addThe committee was set up at the Arab summit in Casablanca, which opened on 23 May 1989 (Hanf).
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 23 May 1989
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July 1989
Wednesday, 5 July 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
In a joint declaration from Paris, Presidents Mitterand and Gorbatchev call for an immediate cease-fire.
What the books addHanf dates a joint declaration by Presidents Gorbachev and Mitterrand on Lebanon, welcoming the Arab troika's efforts, to 5 June 1989.
Other date in the books: Monday, 5 June 1989
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Wednesday, 19 July 1989
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
France dispatches a carrier, a frigate and a landing-craft transport towards Lebanon.
Mitterrand presented the deployment as humanitarian rather than military, while declaring that Lebanon's threatened independence must be defended. The sources Hanf cites disagree on whether it deterred Syria. The carrier was the Foch.
Sources differ: Fisk: France kept sending warships towards the coast and recalling them before they came into view (pdf:542).
Other date in the books: Saturday, 15 July 1989
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Monday, 31 July 1989
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
A video of the hanging of US Lt-Col. William Higgins, a UN observer kidnapped in 1988, is broadcast.
Higgins, an officer of the UN Truce Supervision Organization, had been abducted near Tyre on 17 February 1988. His captors said they had killed him in revenge for Israel's abduction of Sheikh Obeid.
Other date in the books: Friday, 28 July 1989
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Arab troika declares its mediation a failure and blames Damascus.
Syria shelled Beirut for thirty-six hours, and its foreign minister said Syrian forces would remain in Lebanon, in answer to the troika's report. It had blamed Syria in part for the continuing sea blockade and violence and for rejecting a pull-back of its troops to the Bekaa, while finding broad Lebanese agreement on reform.
Sources differ: Picard dates the commission's criticism of Syria to June 1989, Hanf the troika's report to 31 July.
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August 1989
Sunday, 13 August 1989
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The army repels an offensive by the PSP and its allies, backed by Syrian troops, on Souk el-Gharb.
The army held its lines at Souk el-Gharb after about five hours of close combat, repelling Druze and Palestinian fighters backed by Syrian troops whose apparent target was the presidential palace in Baabda. De Clerck and Malsagne say Jumblatt lost about a hundred fighters.
Sources differ: The book's chronology calls it an attempt by the Syrian army and allied militias to enter East Beirut; its narrative and Hanf describe a PSP-led attack with Syrian support.
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Tuesday, 15 August 1989
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Pope John Paul II publicly condemns Syria as an occupying power in Lebanon.
Pope John Paul II dropped the Vatican's neutrality: urging international intervention and Syria's withdrawal, he named Syria, with Israel, an occupying power. His widely reported statement came on 15 August 1989, the Assumption, two days after Souk el-Gharb.
Other date in the books: Sunday, 13 August 1989
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late August 1989: day not established
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The 'war of liberation' leaves about a thousand dead in four and a half months.
Hundreds of thousands had left both halves of Beirut by late August, says Hanf, who counts 1,000 killed, many more hurt, 120 factories wrecked and 400 damaged. Fisk also gives at least a thousand dead.
Sources differ: For the whole war against Syria, Hanf elsewhere estimates 1,000 killed and 3,500 injured (pdf:620); for all of Aoun's wars together, Traboulsi gives 1,500 dead and 3,500 wounded (Postscript).
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September 1989
Wednesday, 6 September 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
2000 angry demonstrators have besieged the American Embassy. Twenty-four hours later, 30 American diplomats, including the Ambassador John Mc Carthy, leave Lebanon.
What the books addAccording to Hanf and Fisk, the embassy closed after demonstrations by Aoun's supporters. A first youth protest at the embassy, against Western 'silence', took place in April 1989.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 16 November 1989
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Wednesday, 13 September 1989
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The troika proposes an immediate ceasefire, an end to the blockade and a meeting of parliament in Saudi Arabia on 30 September.
Hanf judges the new plan largely favourable to Syria. A committee would search ships for arms bound for Aoun; land routes would go unpatrolled. Syria, asked in the troika's first draft to pull back in part within six months, now had two years, then positions in the Bekaa and the mountains.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date the plan to 17 September.
Other date in the books: Sunday, 17 September 1989
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Friday, 22 September 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A cease-fire was officially observed while general Aoun answered favorably to the Arab peace proposals.
What the books addThe dates differ: Picard ends the 'war of liberation' on 22 September; de Clerck and Malsagne say the ceasefire took effect on 23 September. Hanf dates the troika's new plan to 13 September (de Clerck and Malsagne say 17 September). Aoun accepted it, urging the deputies to insist on a timetable for Syrian withdrawal.
Other dates in the books: Wednesday, 13 September 1989, Saturday, 23 September 1989
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Wednesday, 27 September 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Lakhdar Ibrahimi announces that the parliamentary meeting will take place in Taef (in Saudi Arabia) on September 30th.
What the books addThe meeting date of 30 September was already part of the troika's 13 September proposals (Hanf). De Clerck and Malsagne say 63 of the 73 surviving deputies gathered in Taif on 30 September. Hanf dates the formal opening to 1 October.
Other dates in the books: Wednesday, 13 September 1989, Saturday, 30 September 1989
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October 1989
Sunday, 1 October 1989
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Lebanese deputies begin their Taif conclave, opened by Saudi Arabia's foreign minister.
Former speaker Husseini chaired the session, which Prince Saud al-Faisal opened by insisting that it must not fail. Hanf puts attendance at 62 deputies, split evenly between Christians and Muslims, some living in Lebanon and others in exile in France, Switzerland or Iraq; de Clerck and Malsagne give 63.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date the meeting to 30 September with 63 deputies; Hanf dates the opening to 1 October with 62. The original entry 1155 has 30 September.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 30 September 1989
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November 1989
Thursday, 16 November 1989
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
US ambassador John McCarthy makes a televised statement aimed against General Aoun.
De Clerck and Malsagne cite the statement alongside sources saying that Samir Geagea accepted a mission to remove Aoun, given first by the Americans and later by President Hrawi.
Sources differ: Original entry 1150 says McCarthy left Lebanon in early September.
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Friday, 17 November 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While Selim Hoss is asked to form the new government, retaliations take place against some deputies from Eastern regions.
What the books addAoun, Hanf writes, warned that any Christian deputy joining a Moawad-Hoss government would lose the right to live in the 'free areas'. When bombs hit the homes of many Christian deputies after the election, his condemnation was half-hearted: he voiced 'understanding for the anger of the people'.
Other date in the books: Sunday, 5 November 1989
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Friday, 24 November 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Elias Hraoui is elected President of the Republic by an Assembly reunited at the Chtaura Park Hotel, on the eve of the National Funerals of the defunct President.
What the books addHanf: Elias Hrawi, the only candidate, won on the second ballot with 47 votes of the 53 deputies present, 5 abstaining, under Syrian protection; at the same sitting parliament gave itself four more years. Speaker Husseini had gone to Damascus on the night of 22 November. Traboulsi's chronology places the election on 22 November.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 22 November 1989
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Saturday, 25 November 1989
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
President René Moawad is buried in Zghorta.
At the Zghorta funeral, Fisk writes, nobody knew whether the coffin, carried on a gun-carriage from the family church's crypt, held Moawad or one of his bodyguards. Assad and his generals sent wreaths.
Sources differ: Original entry 1167 says Hrawi was elected 'on the eve of the national funerals', which fits this date.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 22 November 1989
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Crowds ring Baabda palace as President Hrawi fires Aoun and sets a 48-hour deadline to leave.
The deadline lapsed with nothing done. Hrawi had warned those lacking legitimacy could be handled 'in a few hours', yet within hours tens of thousands, many young, were camped round Baabda palace for a weeks-long sit-in.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne say Aoun held the command until 27 November (p. 281). Original entry 1169 dates the gathering at Baabda to 28 November.
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Sunday, 26 November 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The government created by Selim Hoss gets the Parliament's confidence.
What the books addHanf sees the cabinet as falling short of Taif's national unity government, since Michel Sassine stayed in Paris and Kataeb leader Georges Saadé wavered.
Other date in the books: Friday, 24 November 1989
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Tuesday, 28 November 1989
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Several reports mentionned important Syrian movements towards the Eastern fronts. In response to General Aoun's call, thousands of Lebanese went to Baabda and watched the Palace day and night.
What the books addThe crowds began gathering at Baabda as soon as Hrawi gave Aoun his ultimatum, according to Hanf the day after the election. The sit-in lasted weeks. Fisk saw the Syrian army move hundreds of tanks and guns into the mountains above Beirut in early December. Emile Lahoud was named army commander on 28 November (de Clerck and Malsagne).
Other date in the books: Saturday, 25 November 1989
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December 1989
Sunday, 17 December 1989
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
After months without a public word, Samir Geagea says the Taif agreement deserves a chance.
The army-militia quarrel, until then about money, now turned political and led into the January 1990 fighting: Hrawi and the Lebanese Forces promptly made contact, which Aoun saw as treason.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne say Geagea accepted Taif without any official statement (p. 175).
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March 2000
Sunday, 5 March 2000
After the war · From the books
Israel's cabinet decides on a unilateral withdrawal from the south.
Barak's plan set 7 July 2000 for leaving the 'security zone'. Beirut, deferring to a stalled Damascus, prepared nothing.
Sources differ: Cabinet decision on 5 March (Abirached); Picard places Barak's announcement in April.
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March 2000: day not established
After the war · From the books
The Clinton-Assad summit in Geneva fails.
After the Geneva summit failed, Barak announced that Israel would leave the south entirely, with or without an agreement. Mermier sees the Syrian–Lebanese track of talks with Israel ending there; Picard argues that Damascus lost the international latitude it had enjoyed over Lebanon.
Sources differ: February (Picard 2002), March (Picard 2016; 33 jours p. 210) or April 2000 (33 jours p. 176). March has the most support.
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May 2000
Wednesday, 24 May 2000
After the war · From the books
Israel ends its occupation of southern Lebanon.
Israel pulled out overnight on 23–24 May as the South Lebanon Army, deserting since early May, collapsed. Villagers streamed home, crowds forced open the Khiam jail and several thousand SLA men and relatives left for Israel. The Shebaa Farms, the Kfarshuba hills and Lebanon's part of Ghajar stayed occupied.
Sources differ: 24 May (Abirached, Tarraf; Picard: night of 23–24) or 25 May (de Clerck and Malsagne, book and article). Occupation lasted 18 years (from 1982, de Clerck and Malsagne) or 22 years (from 1978, Abirached).
Other date in the books: Thursday, 25 May 2000
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June 2000
June 2000: day not established
After the war · From the books
Hafez al-Assad dies; his son Bashar succeeds him.
Hafez al-Assad's death in June 2000, a month after Israel quit the south, briefly allowed freer criticism of Syria's presence in Lebanon.
Sources differ: June 2000 (Haugbolle, Picard 2016 ch. IV), May 2000 (Picard 2016 ch. V) or 10 June 2001 (Picard 2002, clearly a misprint for 2000).
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July 2000
Sunday, 30 July 2000
After the war · From the books
Lahoud says the army's role in the south will be defined 'in due course'.
Lahoud's Army Day speech left the army's role undefined, so no national strategy emerged; the government called Hezbollah's continuing fight a 'national struggle'.
Sources differ: 30 July (Picard 2002) or 29 July (Picard 2016).
Other date in the books: Saturday, 29 July 2000
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October 2000
Thursday, 26 October 2000
After the war · From the books
Rafiq Hariri forms a new thirty-member cabinet.
Hariri regained the premiership after the 2000 elections, but the hopes that had greeted him in 1992 were gone.
Sources differ: September 2000 (Quéméner) against October (Picard, Abirached).
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October 2000: day not established
After the war · From the books
The Maronite bishops openly criticise Syria.
The bishops' open criticism of Syria echoed protests by Aoun's followers and ex-Lebanese Forces members; Picard sees clergy now contesting Syria's armed presence.
Sources differ: Picard dates the bishops' communiqué to October 2000.
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February 2006
Thursday, 2 February 2006
Since 2005 · From the books
The Shiite ministers return to the cabinet.
Their boycott, begun after Tueni's assassination, ended after some seven weeks.
Sources differ: Abirached's dates imply a boycott of about seven weeks; Picard's chapter speaks of several months.
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Monday, 6 February 2006
Since 2005 · From the books
Michel Aoun and Hassan Nasrallah sign their memorandum of understanding.
At the church of Mar Mikhael, on the old Chiyah–Ain al-Rummaneh demarcation line, Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah signed a memorandum of understanding covering the electoral law, Hezbollah's weapons and relations with Syria. The alliance lasted until the 2020 crisis.
Sources differ: 6 February in three sources against 5 February in the introduction to 33 jours. The church is placed 'in the southern suburb' by de Clerck & Malsagne and 'on the old demarcation line' by Mermier & Picard.
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May 2006
Wednesday, 17 May 2006
Since 2005 · From the books
UN Resolution 1680 urges Syria to delimit the border and open diplomatic relations.
Syria was strongly urged to open full diplomatic ties with Lebanon and delimit the border, chiefly where it was unclear or contested.
Sources differ: Picard's chapter in 33 jours (p. 84) dates 1680 to 2005, evidently a slip.
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Sunday, 28 May 2006
Since 2005 · From the books
Rockets on northern Israel bring the heaviest Israeli strikes since 2000.
Rockets fired at an air base near Safad, in northern Israel, brought Israel's most violent response since its 2000 withdrawal: aircraft struck the Aita al-Shaab area and hillsides by Khiam and Chakra in the border zone.
Sources differ: Abirached attributes the rockets to Hezbollah; Khayat says nobody claimed them.
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July 2006
Wednesday, 12 July 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
Hezbollah captures two Israeli soldiers at the border near Zar'it.
Shortly after 9 a.m. a Hezbollah unit ambushed two Israeli army Humvees patrolling the border fence near Zar'it, opposite Ayta al-Shaab, killing three soldiers and taking two wounded reservists, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, into Lebanon under cover of a rocket and mortar barrage. Five more Israeli soldiers died that day, four in a tank blown up during a pursuit across the border and one by mortar fire, bringing the army's dead to eight. Hezbollah announced that it would exchange the captives for prisoners held in Israel.
Sources differ: Time: 34 Days (Israeli reconstruction) puts the attack shortly after 9:00; Abirached quotes Hezbollah's statement giving 'around 9:05'; 34 Days dates Al-Manar's announcement to 10:15.
Reports at the time: The archive's first report of the capture comes at 10:40 (Al-Manar via AFP), 25 minutes after the time 34 Days gives for Al-Manar's announcement. The toll of eight soldiers appears only at 22:30, after reports of three (17:10) and four in a tank (18:05). Archive times are wire-feed publication times, not event times.
The reports of that day, as they came in
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
First Israeli raids on the South and the coastal bridges.
Israel's 'Just Reward' offensive opened with roughly forty air strikes in the South; its bombing there and in Beirut caused serious damage to infrastructure.
Sources differ: Dieckhoff (pdf:192) dates the bombing of bridges and roads across the country from the next day, 13 July.
Reports at the time: The archive records two civilians killed near Ayta al-Shaab at 12:25 on 12 July, strikes on the Zahrani bridge from 17:45 and on Saida's Awali bridge at 22:30.
The reports of that day, as they came in
Since 2005 · From the books
Hezbollah captures two Israeli soldiers; Israel launches a war on Lebanon.
Hezbollah fighters attacked an Israeli patrol across the border on the morning of 12 July and took two soldiers, whom the party offered to trade for Arab prisoners. Dozens of Israeli air raids on the South followed; strikes on the airport, bridges and roads and an air and sea blockade came next. The war's day-by-day record is in 111101's July 2006 archive (/facts/history/july2006/).
Sources differ: Abirached quotes Hezbollah's announcement of the capture 'around 9.05'; Harel & Issacharoff place the burnt-out vehicles and the start of the search at about 9.45 a.m. These are different moments, not necessarily a conflict.
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Thursday, 13 July 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
Beirut airport, twenty-one bridges and the Damascus road are bombed.
Israel bombed Beirut airport's runways, some twenty-one bridges and the Beirut–Damascus highway, cutting air traffic and the main roads to Syria. Visitors, many from the Gulf, were stuck; Western states evacuated their citizens, dual nationals included, by sea.
Sources differ: 34 Days puts the runway strike on the night of 12 July; Abirached and Dieckhoff date the strikes to 13 July.
Reports at the time: The archive's first report of the runways being hit is 06:30 on 13 July, after the Damour bridge (00:50); helicopters struck the airport's fuel tanks again in the evening.
The reports of that day, as they came in
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 12 July 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
Israel imposes an air and sea blockade on Lebanon.
Israel closed Lebanon's air space and coast. The blockade stayed in force until 7 September, over three weeks past the ceasefire, and hindered the export of books and newspapers printed in Lebanon.
Sources differ: Start date: 13 July (Abirached; Dieckhoff 'from the next day'), 12 July (Mermier).
Reports at the time: The archive reports a 'general blockade' at 10:05 on 13 July, supporting Abirached's date.
The reports of that day, as they came in
Other date in the books: Friday, 14 July 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books range
The Jiyeh power station's fuel tanks are bombed; an oil slick spreads along the coast.
Some 150 km of coast, up to the Syrian border, was fouled after Israeli strikes on 13 and 15 July hit the fuel tanks of the Jiyeh power station, 25 km south of Beirut. Thousands of tonnes of fuel oil burned or ran into the sea; fishing was devastated, and the ongoing war delayed the clean-up.
Sources differ: Verdeil puts the spill at 10,000-15,000 tonnes; Bustos gives the full contents of the depot, 35,000 tonnes, some of which burned and some spilled. The two figures measure different things.
Reports at the time: No archive report for 13-15 July mentions Jiyeh; the fires and the slick first appear on 26 July, and the strike notes put Jiyeh under 16 July.
The reports of that day, as they came in
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
Saudi Arabia condemns Hezbollah's 'adventurism'.
Riyadh on 13 July blamed the capture on Hezbollah's 'irresponsible adventurism' yet still endorsed 'legitimate resistance'. Hezbollah had not expected it: no Arab government had openly condemned such an action before.
Sources differ: Night of 12 July (34 Days) against 13 July (Ayad and Donati).
Reports at the time: The archive reports the Saudi statement only at 05:20 on 14 July, a day later than either book.
The reports of that day, as they came in
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 12 July 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
First Israeli raids on Beirut's southern suburb.
Israeli aircraft struck the southern suburb of Beirut, Hezbollah's stronghold, for the first time.
Sources differ: 34 Days puts the start of the bombing of Dahiyeh on the evening of 14 July (see 2006-07-14-haret-hreik).
Reports at the time: The archive backs Abirached: it cites Hezbollah reporting a strike on its southern-suburb stronghold at 08:30 on 13 July.
The reports of that day, as they came in
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Friday, 14 July 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
Hezbollah's 'security quarter' in Haret Hreik is flattened; Al-Manar keeps broadcasting.
Mona Harb stresses that Haret Hreik was chiefly a dense quarter of homes and shops; days of bombing ruined it. From the early evening jets levelled the towers holding Hezbollah's headquarters and the Al-Manar building, though the channel stayed on air from a secret site; tens of thousands had fled to northern Beirut after Israeli media announced the raid.
Sources differ: Date: early evening of 14 July (34 Days) against 15 July (Abirached). Buildings destroyed: more than 200 (Harb), 182 plus 192 damaged (Verdeil), at least 127 (Bustos).
Reports at the time: The archive reports Nasrallah's headquarters and residence building destroyed on Friday evening 14 July (19:50, 20:15) and the official news agency confirming the nine-storey building 'entirely destroyed' at 15:10 on 15 July, which may explain Abirached's date.
The reports of that day, as they came in
Art and memory- memorial Israeli bombing in summer 2006 hit UMAM's Hangar and documentation centre in Haret Hreik, where since 2001 Lokman Slim and Monika Borgmann had been archiving, among other things, the memory of the Lebanese war; part of the archive was destroyed.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 15 July 2006
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Saturday, 15 July 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books mid July
Villagers fleeing Marwahin are killed on the road to Tyre.
Harel and Issacharoff count 21 dead among people leaving the border village of Marwahin for Tyre when Israeli aircraft struck their vehicle; images of the bodies were broadcast worldwide.
Sources differ: Toll: 21 (34 Days); 18 civilians, mostly children (archive, 13:30); 20 including 15 children (archive strike note citing Reuters).
Reports at the time: The archive dates the attack to 15 July: first five civilians killed by helicopter fire on a minibus and a car (13:05), then eighteen civilians, mostly children, who were leaving on the Israeli army's orders (13:30). The 15 July strike note says 20 dead including 15 children; a 17 July note places the vehicles between Al-Bayyada and Shamaa.
The reports of that day, as they came in
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Sunday, 16 July 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
Rockets kill eight railway workers in Haifa; the G8 meets in St Petersburg.
On 16 July a Hezbollah rocket killed eight workers on the Haifa railway, and Condoleezza Rice said it was not the time for a ceasefire. The G8 summit closed that day with a statement that Abirached's chronology reads as a call for an immediate halt to the fighting; Harel and Issacharoff stress instead that it blamed Hamas and Hezbollah, floated an international force and wanted resolution 1559 applied and the Lebanese army sent south.
Sources differ: Reading of the G8 text: support for Israel (34 Days) against a call for an immediate halt (Abirached).
Reports at the time: The archive's Haifa toll moves from eight to nine and back to eight. It does not record Rice's 'not the time' remark; its Lebanese tolls that day do not add up to Abirached's sixty.
The reports of that day, as they came in
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Monday, 17 July 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
A family is killed in its home in Aitaroun.
Nine of one family, seven of them children, died in Aitaroun on 17 July when their house was blown up. Bread, fuel and water ran short for southern villagers who stayed despite Israeli leaflets ordering them out, and taxis charged a fortune for the trip to Beirut.
Sources differ: Toll: nine including seven children (34 Days); thirteen of the Awadah family including nine children (archive, 18 July 01:13); nine dead, four wounded (archive strike note, 17 July).
Reports at the time: Archive: thirteen dead of the Awadah family, nine of them children (posted 01:13 on 18 July).
The reports of that day, as they came in
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Thursday, 20 July 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
Battle of Maroun al-Ras.
Egoz lost a company commander and four men on 20 July in its first clash at Maroun al-Ras, sent in by daylight to back paratroopers who had entered at dawn; the battle lasted two more days.
Sources differ: Israeli dead: five (34 Days) against four among eight dead (Abirached).
Reports at the time: The archive reports four Israeli soldiers killed that evening; a fifth is identified only on 23 July, the day Hezbollah acknowledged the Israeli entry.
The reports of that day, as they came in
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
Nasrallah tells Al-Jazeera Hezbollah is intact.
Interviewed on Al-Jazeera, Nasrallah denied taking instructions from Iran or Syria and said Israel had seized on the capture to start a war planned long before. Hezbollah, he claimed, had lost none of its leaders or military strength; victory meant the resistance surviving.
Sources differ: 20 July (Abirached) against 21 July (34 Days).
Reports at the time: The archive reports the interview at 23:10 on 20 July, so 34 Days' date probably reflects its broadcast or reporting the next day.
The reports of that day, as they came in
Other date in the books: Friday, 21 July 2006
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Sunday, 23 July 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
Israel begins to look for an exit; Syria threatens to join a ground war.
On Sunday 23 July, with no quick victory in sight, Olmert's office first weighed a political end to the war, and the defence minister's office debated ceasefire terms. Israeli units in the South readied an attack on Bint Jbeil; a Syrian minister warned that a ground offensive in Lebanon would bring Syria into the war.
Sources differ: The archive names the Syrian minister Mohsen Bilal as information minister, not foreign minister.
Reports at the time: Archive: 'Moshen Bilal, the Syrian information minister'.
The reports of that day, as they came in
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Wednesday, 26 July 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
The Rome conference ends without a ceasefire; Siniora presents his plan.
On 26 July an international conference on Lebanon in Rome, where Siniora presented his seven-point plan, backed a UN-mandated force and pledged urgent work towards a ceasefire without calling for an immediate one. Joseph Bahout saw in it Washington's abandonment of the Lebanese government.
Sources differ: Origin of the plan: shown to Rice in Beirut on 24 July (34 Days; it later calls it 'Siniora's seven-point plan of July 24', pdf:233) against presented in Rome on 26 July (Abirached).
The reports of that day, as they came in
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Thursday, 27 July 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
Lebanon's cabinet, Hezbollah ministers included, adopts Siniora's plan.
Five Shiite ministers backed the decision of Siniora's cabinet, that evening, to adopt the plan from his Rome speech, including the army's deployment in the South. To Harel and Issacharoff, Hezbollah's agreement showed how badly the Bint Jbeil fighting had hurt it.
Sources differ: Evening of 27 July (34 Days) against 28 July (Abirached).
Reports at the time: The archive supports 34 Days: the unanimous endorsement is reported at 23:20-23:25 on 27 July; AFP carried it the next morning (08:55 on 28 July), which may explain Abirached's date.
The reports of that day, as they came in
Other date in the books: Friday, 28 July 2006
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Sunday, 30 July 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
Qana: a building full of sheltering families is destroyed.
Families sheltering in a house in Qana died early on Sunday 30 July when an Israeli strike brought it down; dozens of civilians were killed, many of them children, though tolls vary widely. Israel halted air raids for 48 hours, Berri declared Hezbollah's terms for an exchange void, and Siniora told Rice to stay away from Beirut. Agnès Levallois argues that the killings, a decade after the 1996 shelling of Qana, changed how the French and Arab press covered the war.
Sources differ: Toll: about thirty (Abirached; Ayad and Donati), 28 including 17 children (34 Days, final), 57 including 21 children (Arab TV via 34 Days), sixty (blogger via 34 Days); the archive's tolls run from 20 to 52 (with 30 children) and over 60.
Reports at the time: Contemporary tolls in the archive: 'at least twenty killed or wounded' (08:10), 35 (09:10), 32 including 14 children (09:50), 51 including 22 children (10:15), 'over 60' (Beawitness), and 52 civilians including 30 children on the day of national mourning (31 July). None gives the lower figure of 28 adopted by 34 Days. The 48-hour suspension appears at 00:22 on 31 July.
The reports of that day, as they came in
Art and memory- place Qana was struck twice: Israeli shelling of refugees at the UN headquarters there killed 106 on 18 April 1996, and the village was hit again in 2006. Lebanese regard the dead of both as martyrs.
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August 2006
Tuesday, 1 August 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
Israeli commando raid on Baalbek's Dar al-Hikmeh hospital.
Israeli commandos landed by helicopter in Baalbek on the night of 1-2 August and took away five men, whom Israel called Hezbollah cadres. Aurélie Daher, citing the Lebanese press, writes that the five were freed three weeks later, shown to have no tie to the party; that some twenty civilians, seven of them children, were killed; and that the target, Sheikh Mohammad Yazbeck, was not at the Dar al-Hikmeh hospital where he was expected.
Sources differ: Date: 1 August (34 Days), night of 1-2 August (Daher), 2 August (Abirached). Identity of the five: Hezbollah fighters (Israeli army, archive), 'presumed members' (Abirached), civilians with no link (Daher).
Reports at the time: Archive tolls: eleven civilians killed and six kidnapped (police, 07:50), nineteen killed (Al-Jazeera), sixteen including seven children (15:35); Halutz claimed ten fighters killed and five captured.
The reports of that day, as they came in
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 2 August 2006
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Friday, 4 August 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
Farm workers are killed at al-Qaa on the Syrian border.
An Israeli air strike on al-Qaa, near Hermel by the Syrian border, killed over thirty farm labourers, mostly Syrians, harvesting and packing vegetables.
Sources differ: Place: Lebanese village of al-Qaa (Daher; archive) against 'the Syrian side of the border' (34 Days). Toll: 33 (Daher), 34 (34 Days).
Reports at the time: The archive locates the strike in al-Qaa, at a refrigerated container and the Lebanese customs compound, with tolls rising from five to 26 and 34, mostly Syrian workers; nothing places it inside Syria.
The reports of that day, as they came in
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Monday, 7 August 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
The cabinet decides to send 15,000 soldiers to the South.
The Lebanese cabinet's vote of 7 August, backed by Hezbollah and Amal ministers, to deploy 15,000 troops in the South after an Israeli withdrawal broke the Franco-American deadlock over the draft; Nasrallah praised the army's role two days later.
Sources differ: 34 Days gives both 7 August (p. 182) and 5 August (p. 202); Abirached gives 7 August.
Reports at the time: The archive confirms 7 August (21:45).
The reports of that day, as they came in
Other date in the books: Saturday, 5 August 2006
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Friday, 11 August 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books range
Cluster bombs are scattered over the South in the last days of the war.
About 70 per cent of the several hundred thousand cluster submunitions Israel dropped, most of them on the South, reportedly fell in the last three days of the war, when a halt to the fighting had already been agreed in principle. By 28 August unexploded bomblets had killed 14 people and wounded 47.
Sources differ: Number: 'several hundred thousand' (Verdeil) against 'millions' (de Clerck and Malsagne).
Reports at the time: The archive's first cluster-bomb deaths are dated 14-15 August; on 22 August it quotes a UN count of at least 170 sites hit.
The reports of that day, as they came in
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
The Security Council adopts resolution 1701.
The Security Council voted resolution 1701 unanimously, with all fifteen votes, at 7:52 p.m. on Friday 11 August in New York (2:52 a.m. Saturday local time). The text demanded a complete end to hostilities and the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from the South, where the Lebanese army and a UNIFIL enlarged to 15,000 troops were to deploy.
Sources differ: 11 August (New York date; Daher) against 12 August (Beirut date; Abirached). Both are right for their time zones.
Reports at the time: The archive files the vote under 12 August (02:55 Beirut time).
The reports of that day, as they came in
Other date in the books: Saturday, 12 August 2006
Since 2005 · From the books
The UN Security Council adopts Resolution 1701.
Adopted unanimously, it demanded a complete end to hostilities and an Israeli pull-out from the South, where the Lebanese army and a UNIFIL raised to 15,000 troops were to deploy; Hezbollah's weapons were left for the Lebanese state to deal with. In a televised address, Nasrallah said Hezbollah would not block Lebanon's decision. The war's day-by-day record is in 111101's July 2006 archive (/facts/history/july2006/).
Sources differ: 11 August (Picard; Friday evening in New York per Harel & Issacharoff) against 12 August (Abirached). The difference is the time zone: the vote came in the early hours of 12 August in Beirut.
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Saturday, 12 August 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
Battle of Wadi Saluki.
On Saturday 12 August, after the UN vote, 401st Brigade tanks crossed Wadi Saluki by day towards Randoria and Farun, exposed to Hezbollah missiles from the villages above. Eleven soldiers died at Saluki and Randoria and six more nearby in the last two days; on Sunday the troops halted to await the ceasefire. Reporters asked what the deaths had achieved; officers later found it hard to justify.
Reports at the time: The archive gives 24 Israeli soldiers killed across the South on Saturday 12 August, of whom 34 Days attributes eleven to Saluki-Randoria; a Haaretz item places the tanks' passage of the Saluki on the evening of 13 August.
The reports of that day, as they came in
Other date in the books: Monday, 14 August 2006
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Sunday, 13 August 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
Israel's cabinet approves the ceasefire as the last bombs fall.
Israel's cabinet approved the ceasefire, with Shaul Mofaz alone abstaining. Heavy bombing went on, Beirut included, and ground forces neither took Khiam nor established themselves on the Litani. That evening an air strike on a house in Brital, near Baalbek, killed five of one family.
Sources differ: Brital: five dead of one family (Daher) against at least seven to nine dead and over thirty wounded (archive).
The reports of that day, as they came in
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Monday, 14 August 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
The displaced go home.
Almost a million displaced people headed home, mostly southwards, once the ceasefire held; the schools that had housed them were empty within 48 hours, and many returned to ruins. Unlike in 1982, de Clerck and Malsagne note, the exodus left no lasting mark on Beirut's neighbourhoods.
Sources differ: Speed: 'almost all home within 48 hours' (Raymond) against the HRC figures in 111101's July 2006 archive (Figures page), which still count 702,413 displaced on 15-16 August and 262,174 on 19 August.
Reports at the time: The archive also records Israeli leaflets on 14-15 August telling southerners not to return before the army's deployment.
The reports of that day, as they came in
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
The toll of the war: the books disagree.
The books' counts of the war's dead in Lebanon range from about 900 to nearly 1,200, with over 4,000 wounded and close to a million displaced; on the Israeli side, 116 to 170 dead, most of them soldiers. The figures differ by source, by what they count (all dead, civilians, combatants) and by cutoff date; each version is kept here with who gave it.
Sources differ: Lebanese dead: about 900 (de Clerck and Malsagne, Ministry of Health), 1,100 all categories (34 Days), 1,183 'civilians' (Mermier and Picard; Bustos, who adds 91-134 combatants), nearly 1,200 (Abirached; Quemener, apparently repeating Abirached word for word). Share of civilians: 'almost half' (34 Days, Israeli framing) against the civilian majority in all Lebanese-sourced figures. Israeli dead: 116 soldiers at 14 August (Makki), 150 (Abirached), 161 (34 Days), 162 (Mermier and Picard), 170 (Bustos). Displaced in Israel: 250,000 (Mermier and Picard) against 400,000 (Abirached).
Reports at the time: The archive records the Israeli army's own estimate of 530 Hezbollah fighters killed, 180 of them verified (14 August, 02:20), far above Hezbollah's admissions quoted in 34 Days.
The reports of that day, as they came in
Art and memory- book The two main books on the war used here, Harel and Issacharoff's 34 Days (2008) and Mermier and Picard's Liban, une guerre de 33 jours (2007), are not in 111101 References.
Since 2005 · From the books
The cessation of hostilities takes effect; the displaced return south.
The ceasefire came into force on 14 August. Hundreds of thousands of displaced people immediately headed back to the South, and Hassan Nasrallah claimed a 'divine' or 'strategic' victory and promised compensation for destroyed homes. Tolls for the 33 days differ widely between the books. The war's day-by-day record is in 111101's July 2006 archive (/facts/history/july2006/).
Sources differ: Lebanese dead: nearly 1,200 (Abirached; Quéméner, who repeats the same figures and probably depends on the same source), about 900 (de Clerck & Malsagne 2025), 1,400 (de Clerck & Malsagne in Confluences 2020). Israeli displaced: 400,000 (Abirached, Quéméner) against 250,000 (Mermier & Picard introduction). Cutoffs and definitions are not given.
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Thursday, 17 August 2006
July 2006, as the books tell it · From the books
The Lebanese army begins deploying in the South; direct war damage put at $3.6 billion.
The Lebanese army began moving into the South, about 10,000 troops within days, and UNIFIL took over half of Israel's positions. The Council for Development and Reconstruction put direct damage at about $3.6 billion, nearly two thirds of it to housing and shops; a later government report cut this to $2.8 billion.
Sources differ: Damage estimates: $2.071 billion (HRC, 22 July, 111101's July 2006 archive), over $3 billion (Vignal, 14 August), $3.6 billion (CDR, 17 August), $2.8 billion (government, November), $3-5 billion for the economy (34 Days).
The reports of that day, as they came in
Other date in the books: Monday, 14 August 2006
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