80 entries on 68 dates · the books disagree on 80
dates 1–60 of 68 next
January 1990
Saturday, 27 January 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Fighting breaks out between the army and the Lebanese Forces over a school in Furn al-Chebbak.
Both sides had Iraqi weapons. The spark was a school in Furn al-Chebbak, a strategic point between Baabda and East Beirut, which the Lebanese Forces had requisitioned and Aoun's government wanted back for the Ministry of Education. When the militia would not leave, the army fired, and heavy fighting broke out in many places within hours.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date the outbreak at Furn al-Chubbak to 31 January (entry 1177); Picard's chronology gives 30 January.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 31 January 1990
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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at Baabda in early 1990, three quarters were under 40 and 95 per cent opposed the Taif decisions (Professor Labaki's unpublished survey, cited by Hanf).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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February 1990
Saturday, 3 February 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
February 3, 4
The army takes control of Dbayeh after a tough battle.
What the books addHanf: the army's counter-offensive of 6 February 1990 reached the coast near Antelias and took Dbayeh, home to Lebanese Forces barracks and the militia's finance department.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 6 February 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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Sunday, 11 February 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Kesrouan was now at the center of the Aoun-Geagea conflict. Despite all mediations and attempts to maintain the precarious truce, belligerents were fighting on the new front of Daraya, separating the Metn and the Kesrouan.
What the books addColonel Paul Fares declared himself head of a 'neutral army' on 10 February 1990, as a Lebanese Forces push on the army's Kleiat mountain position stalled (Hanf).
Other date in the books: Saturday, 10 February 1990
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Thursday, 15 February 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Despite Mgr Sfeir's pathetic call, a blaze of fire hits the 'Christian country'. The army takes control of Ain el Remmaneh.
What the books addHanf: after the army took Ain al-Rummaneh on 16 February 1990, having attacked the eastern suburbs on the 11th, the Lebanese Forces fell back to Ashrafieh through West Beirut. A Reuters reporter with the troops said it was 'like an earthquake had hit it'.
Other dates in the books: Sunday, 11 February 1990, Friday, 16 February 1990
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after 16 February 1990: day not established
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Geagea asks the Hrawi government for help.
The four Fouga-Magister aircraft seized at Halat went to General Lahoud's Qlayaat base as a goodwill gesture from Samir Geagea, who after losing Ain al-Rummaneh appealed to the 'legal authorities', the President and the Hoss cabinet. Hrawi's price: unreserved acceptance of the Taif Agreement and of the government's authority.
Sources differ: Entry 1190 dates Geagea's rapprochement with Hrawi to 3 April.
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March 1990
Wednesday, 14 March 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Six weeks of inter-Christian fightings cost Lebanon over a third of its annual GNP and continue to paralyze the country's industrial heart.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 31 January 1990
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April 1990
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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Monday, 23 April 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While the blockade war rages between the Lebanese Army and the Lebanese Forces, the President of the Republic declines Geagea's offer to surrender to him the barracks of Jbeil and the Kesrouan.
Other date in the books: Friday, 16 February 1990
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April to early May 1990: day not established
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The army is stopped short of the Lebanese Forces headquarters at Karantina.
In April, Vatican, US and Israeli pressure stopped the army short of Karantina, the Lebanese Forces' headquarters, which it was preparing to storm after taking the Metn and upper Kisrawan in weeks of fighting that killed several hundred. De Clerck and Malsagne also cite the jamming of army radios by Israeli radars in militia hands, officers won over or bought by the militia, and Patriarch Sfeir's threat to excommunicate Christian soldiers.
Sources differ: Hanf sees stalemate from March, the Lebanese Forces keeping Karantina, with no hint it was about to fall; for Fisk, by July Aoun and Geagea each held half the Christian enclave.
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May 1990
Tuesday, 8 May 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Lebanese Forces shell the Military Academy; its commander, General François Zein, is mortally wounded.
Lebanese Forces guns deliberately and repeatedly shelled the Military Academy, killing its commander, General François Zein, the most senior officer to die in the war. De Clerck and Malsagne see the army, with many Muslim officers and cadets, as a symbol of national unity and a prime target for the militia, whose 'military school' at Ghosta was losing Christian cadets to it.
Sources differ: Entry 1195 on the same day records Aoun closing the roads to Lebanese Forces areas.
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Monday, 21 May 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
A Vatican-mediated ceasefire between the army and the Lebanese Forces takes effect.
A Vatican-mediated ceasefire took effect between Aoun's army and the Lebanese Forces. Mutual exhaustion held it; their hatred did not abate, and the Christian enclave stayed divided between them through the summer.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date the truce to 26 May. Accounts of when the war ended differ: March (Quéméner), May (Traboulsi, Fisk), July (Picard).
Other date in the books: Saturday, 26 May 1990
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June 1990
July 1990
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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July 1990: day not established
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The war of Iqlim al-Tuffah between Amal and Hezbollah begins.
Amal and Hezbollah fought mainly over Iqlim al-Tuffah, high ground east of Sidon and a route to the Israeli-held border strip. Hanf has the clashes there resuming in December 1989; Hezbollah's official account starts its 'war of Iqlim al-Tuffah' in July 1990, with an Amal siege lasting nearly 100 days.
Sources differ: Hanf: from December 1989. The Confluences article is by the same authors as the 2025 book.
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August 1990
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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September 1990
Friday, 21 September 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
President Hrawi promulgates the amended Constitution of the Second Republic.
Hrawi promulgated the revised Constitution, with the Taif reforms written in, and announced on air that it would found the Second Republic. Three ex-army commanders then urged Aoun's soldiers to accept General Lahoud's authority; some officers did.
Sources differ: Hanf calls 21 September the promulgation, after a vote on 26 August; de Clerck and Malsagne and Picard call it the adoption. Entry 1204 dates the vote to 21 August.
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Thursday, 27 September 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The blockade against the Eastern region gets tougher and tougher. The goal is proclaimed: force General Aoun to give up before schools reopen.
What the books addHanf notes the blockade had little support even outside the enclave, as civilians rather than Aoun's soldiers bore it. On 28 September 1990, he records, Lahoud's troops tightened it by taking every checkpoint around Aoun's area; Aoun's followers protested daily there and at Baabda.
Other date in the books: Friday, 28 September 1990
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October 1990
Thursday, 11 October 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Hrawi asks Assad for military support against Aoun.
Syrian jets flew low over Baabda on that day and the next, and Israel did not react; Hanf concludes that its 'red line' on Syrian air power no longer held. The flights followed a letter in which Hrawi, acting on a cabinet decision, asked Assad for the Syrian military support for the Lebanese army that Taif provided.
Sources differ: Entry 1210 on the same day speaks of last-minute efforts to avoid an operation.
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Friday, 12 October 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
On the eve of the assault, Aoun vows to fight to the end.
Elie Hobeika gave assurances on 12 October, as Syrian tanks and artillery took up positions in Beirut's southern suburbs. That evening at Baabda Aoun vowed to fight to the finish, but sent his supporters home after a young man tried to kill him before midnight.
Sources differ: Picard's chronology dates the Syrian air attack itself to 12 October.
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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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Monday, 15 October 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
President Mitterand affirms the he will not hand over General Aoun, arguing that 'It is a question of honor'.
What the books addMitterrand called asylum for Aoun 'a matter of honour' and France granted it, but Beirut refused to let him go; he stayed in the French embassy until taken to France on 29 August 1991.
Other dates in the books: Saturday, 13 October 1990, Thursday, 29 August 1991
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Friday, 19 October 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While Hraoui and Assad examine the developments following Aoun's departure, the Lebanese Army takes in charge the positions of Amal and Hezbollah in Chiyah.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 13 October 1990
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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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November 1990
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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Saturday, 17 November 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Greater Beirut security plan: the army deploys and the militias are ordered out of the capital.
Syria, with large forces in West Beirut and the Metn, had cleared the plan beforehand. Troops, their numbers doubled by most of Aoun's former units, took up positions across the capital and all militias were told to go: Amal (south) and the PSP (Chouf) at once, Hezbollah three days later.
Sources differ: Entry 1217 dates the Amal, PSP and Hezbollah withdrawal to 11 November.
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Friday, 23 November 1990
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Lebanese Forces begin leaving Beirut.
On 23 November the Lebanese Forces began leaving Beirut, with a parade to show their strength. They had wanted pro-Syrian militias out of the Metn; the government did give the Kataeb its offices back and posted to Ashrafieh troops from the mostly neutral Sarba garrison rather than units that had fought for Aoun.
Sources differ: Entry 1217 says the Lebanese Forces had to leave Ashrafieh by 19 November at the latest.
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December 1990
Wednesday, 5 December 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese Army controls the port of Beirut and the 5th dock is closed to the maritime traffic.
What the books addHanf says 300 Lebanese Forces militiamen stayed at Karantina and the port after the December 1990 withdrawal, and dates the army's entry into the Fifth Basin and other militia ports to 11 March 1991.
Other dates in the books: Monday, 3 December 1990, Monday, 11 March 1991
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Monday, 10 December 1990
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Fouad Chehab avenue, known under the name of the ring, was finally reopened to the circulation in both directions. This passage, closed since 1984, was completely cleaned up and free of mines.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 4 December 1990
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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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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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April 2003
Sunday, 13 April 2003
After the war · From the books
'Remember, so as not to return': a campaign for a national day of memory.
In al-Safir leading politicians openly backed remembering the war for the first time. On 13 April hundreds gathered in Martyrs' Square, handing out flowers and collecting signatures for a national memory day and a memorial; earlier, the Association Mémoire pour l'Avenir and the families' Committee had screened war documentaries unseen in Lebanon at Masrah al-Medina.
Art and memory- place Architect Mona El-Hallak came upon the Barakat building, above the old demarcation line at Sodeco, in 1996, and from 1997 led APSAD's campaign to save it. In 2003 the municipality expropriated it for $3 million for Beit Beirut.
- film Films Haugbolle cites on postwar amnesia include Ghassan Salhab's Beyrouth Fantôme (1999) and Terra Incognita (2002); the novel Ya Salam (1999) by Najwa Barakat follows former militiamen in peacetime.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 8 April 2003
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June 2003
June 2003: day not established
After the war · From the books
Nada Sahnaoui's installation 'Atadhakkar' (I remember) opens in Martyrs' Square.
Sahnaoui set readers' memories of prewar downtown on 360 newspaper stacks, leaving a few stacks bare for what had been erased.
Sources differ: Opening in June 2003 (p. 132); the photograph is dated July 2003.
Art and memory- artwork Nada Sahnaoui's earlier work 'Statistics' listed war casualty figures from the press; Haugbolle's note points to 111101's Artworks section.
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December 2003
December 2003: day not established
After the war · From the books
The US Congress passes the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act.
It demanded a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon and allowed for sanctions, partly applied from spring 2004.
Sources differ: Passed in November (Haugbolle) or December 2003 (Picard, 33 jours); sanctions from April (Picard) or May 2004 (33 jours).
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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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dates 1–60 of 68 next
