Wednesday, 31 January 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Fights opposing the Lebanese Forces and General Aoun’s army were reported and deprived certain regions of electricity, phone, and water.
What the books addHistorians date the start of this second round of fighting between General Aoun's army and Samir Geagea's Lebanese Forces to the last days of January 1990. De Clerck and Malsagne give 31 January, when the army tried to retake positions the militia held at Furn al-Chubbak; they add that the militia's own attack had been planned for 7 February. Hanf dates the first shots to 27 January, over a school in Furn al-Chebbak that the militia refused to hand back to the Ministry of Education. Picard's chronology gives 30 January. The fighting lasted until a ceasefire in May (accounts of its end range from March to July). Aoun's side called it the war for 'unifying the guns'; it is often remembered as the 'War of Elimination'.
Art and memory- artwork Aoun's paper L'Eveil wrote of a people 'born sixty days ago'; posters at the 1989-90 rallies around the Baabda palace cast him as Saint George killing the dragon.
- testimony Among demonstrators polled at Baabda in early 1990, three quarters were under 40 and 95 per cent opposed the Taif decisions (Professor Labaki's unpublished survey, cited by Hanf).
Other dates in the books: Saturday, 27 January 1990, Tuesday, 30 January 1990
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Friday, 9 February 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
New dividing lines appeared in the Eastern region and the medias war raged. Hospitals suffered from a serious penury and the Lebanese continued to flee by thousands. That week, 417 were killed and 1,655 wounded.
What the books addTotals for the whole army-Lebanese Forces war differ. De Clerck and Malsagne count over 1,500 victims, fighters and civilians, and say the first three weeks claimed more than the six months of the 1989 war against Syria; the army alone lost 21 officers and 221 soldiers, about 100,000 people moved elsewhere in Lebanon and close to 200,000 went abroad. Hanf estimates about 1,000 dead and 3,500 wounded; Picard 1,000 dead and 3,000 wounded for January-July; Fisk 'well over a thousand' dead in Beirut from end January to end May.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 31 January 1990
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Tuesday, 3 April 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The chief of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, joins President Hraoui, while General Michel Aoun turns to the Arab Troika. At the same time, the N.L.P. withdraws from the commandment of the Lebanese Forces.
What the books addHanf: Hrawi made unconditional acceptance of Taif the price of help when Geagea, after losing Ain al-Rummaneh, turned to the 'legal authorities' (Hrawi and the Hoss government) and passed four captured Fouga-Magister aircraft to General Lahoud's Qlayaat base. Aoun, low on fuel and ammunition, was supplied by the SSNP and Hobeika's pro-Syrian militia (Hanf); de Clerck and Malsagne also name Frangieh and Jumblatt.
Other date in the books: Friday, 16 February 1990
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Sunday, 15 July 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Lakhdar Ibrahimi met, for the first time since the Taef agreement, with General Michel Aoun, after having conferred with Presidents Hraoui, Husseini and Hoss. Later on, he met with the chief of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea.
What the books addAoun answered Ibrahimi's offer of a national unity cabinet including himself and Geagea with conditions of his own: a stronger president, no appointed deputies, and the militias dissolved and elections held before the Taif amendments were ratified. Hanf counts at least four meetings between the two in summer 1990; Ibrahimi confessed he could not tell what Aoun wanted.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 11 July 1990
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Tuesday, 21 August 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The second Lebanese Republic was born and the National Assembly approved with a majority of 48 deputies the constitutional reforms included in the Taef agreement. However, General Aoun continued to contest the legality of the Chamber.
What the books addSources disagree on the dates. Hanf dates the parliamentary vote (48 for, 1 against, 2 abstentions out of 51 deputies) to 26 August 1990 and its promulgation by President Hrawi to 21 September 1990. De Clerck and Malsagne, and Picard, give 21 September as the date the constitutional law was adopted. Haugbolle says parliament approved the Taif Agreement in August 1990. Traboulsi's postscript gives '21 September' but places it in 1991, probably by mistake. The vote started the Taif timetable: six months to disband the militias, and two years before Syrian troops withdrew to the Bekaa. Aoun called it a comedy, arguing that parliament had been dissolved.
Other dates in the books: Sunday, 26 August 1990, Friday, 21 September 1990
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Saturday, 13 October 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A quick operation following a bombardment by the Syrian aviation permitted to the Lebanese army loyal to the Hoss government to take control of the Baabda palace and Yarze. General Aoun capitulated to avoid bloody fights and took refuge at the French embassy. Fights, according to some estimates, cause 700 deaths.
What the books addAt about 7 a.m. on 13 October 1990 Syrian aircraft started bombing Baabda, and Syrian and Lebanese armour moved in from West Beirut and the mountains. Some two and a half hours later Aoun went to the French embassy; with Ambassador René Ala mediating, and at Hrawi's demand, he told his troops over the radio to obey General Lahoud. Within about eight hours the fighting had ended. Tolls vary: over 200 dead in a single morning (de Clerck and Malsagne); some 400 Syrian soldiers dead (Hanf); 160 Syrian soldiers dead at Dahr el-Wahash alone, by Syrian figures (Fisk); and an initial government figure of 36 dead (Fisk). Picard's chronology places the Syrian attack on 12 October.
Other date in the books: Friday, 12 October 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Syrian troops execute captured soldiers of Aoun's army.
Some of Aoun's units did not hear, or ignored, his order to stop fighting. At Dahr el-Wahash, above Baabda, they fired on Syrian infantry after the surrender; Syrian sources told Fisk they lost 160 men there. Syrian troops then executed captured Aoun soldiers, about a hundred (Hanf), and killed fifteen villagers in Bsous. Fisk found dozens of bodies in the Baabda hospital mortuary, many shot through the back of the head. About twenty senior officers were taken to Anjar or to Syria.
Sources differ: Figures differ by source and are partly second-hand (Syrian sources quoted by Fisk).
Art and memory- testimony Robert Fisk's eyewitness account of the Baabda mortuary and the Dahr el-Wahash ridge after 13 October 1990 is the most detailed record in the supplied books of the executions that followed Aoun's surrender.
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Sunday, 21 October 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The leader of the National Liberal Party, Dany Chamoun, his wife Ingrid and his two kids Tarek and Julian were savagely assassinated in there home in Baabda.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne count the murder of Dany Chamoun, his wife and two of their children as the last act of violence between Christian factions. The place is given as Baabda (Confluences) or 'his east Beirut home' (Fisk). Chamoun had backed Aoun, though critically, and was opposed to Syria's presence. Hanf notes that many blamed Syria, but judges that killing a whole family suggests a militia vendetta; Fisk likens it to the Phalangists' earlier killing of Tony Frangieh, his wife and baby. Samir Geagea was later tried for the murder (Picard).
Other date in the books: Saturday, 13 October 1990
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Monday, 5 November 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Damascus agreement between the Hezbollah and Amal is a copy of the one agreed upon on January 30th 1989. The cease-fire takes effect in the Iqlim-el-Touffah.
What the books addSources differ on dates. Picard has Damascus and Tehran imposing an Amal–Hezbollah ceasefire on 6 November 1990; de Clerck and Malsagne date the inter-Shi'i accord signed in Damascus to 9 November and, with Aoun's fall, treat it as formally ending the 'civil' war. Hanf says both movements withdrew their fighters from Iqlim al-Tuffah after drawn-out Syrian and Iranian mediation. That final round began in December 1989 (de Clerck and Malsagne, Confluences) or, in Hezbollah's official version, in July 1990, with an Amal siege of nearly 100 days.
Other dates in the books: Tuesday, 6 November 1990, Friday, 9 November 1990
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Sunday, 11 November 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Amal, the P.S.P., and the Hizbollah evacuated their militiamen from the capital. This evacuation was part of the 'Great Beirut' project, aiming at the reunification and disarmament of the capital. As for the Lebanese Forces, they had to leave Achrafieh on November 19 at the latest.
What the books addHanf: the militias were ordered out of Beirut on 17 November 1990, as army units deployed across the capital under a security plan cleared in advance with Syria. Amal (to the south) and the PSP (to the Chouf) left at once, Hezbollah three days later. The Lebanese Forces first set conditions; their pull-out, opened by a military parade on 23 November, ended by 3 December.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 17 November 1990
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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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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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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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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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