140 entries on 133 dates · the books disagree on 37
dates 1–60 of 133 next
February 1972
February 1972: day not established
The road to war · From the books
The Israeli army invades the south as far as the Litani.
Picard counts over 100 dead and over 150 houses destroyed as Israeli troops, aiming to disable the fedayeen and their Lebanese backers, drove south to several points on the Litani.
Sources differ: Picard gives one toll, 'on each occasion', for this and the September 1972 invasion alike.
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March 1972
March–April 1972: day not established
The road to war · From the books
Lebanese University students launch a mass strike; private universities join.
In spring 1972 AUB, Saint-Joseph and Beirut Arab University students backed a mass strike called by NULUS, the Lebanese University students' union, now run by the left (PSP, Communists, OCA).
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May 1972
late May 1972: day not established
The road to war · From the books
After the Lod airport attack, Israel holds Lebanon responsible and strikes the south.
Israeli attacks by land, sea and air on the Rashidieh camp, Hasbaya, Dayr Ashayer and Tibnin killed about 150 people after Japanese Red Army gunmen killed 24 at Lod airport, an operation the PLO had prepared for them in Beirut. Israel now declared Lebanon's government answerable for every PLO action.
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July 1972
Saturday, 8 July 1972
The road to war · From the books
Ghassan Kanafani is killed by a car bomb in Beirut.
Ghassan Kanafani, Palestinian writer and PFLP official, died when his car was blown up; de Clerck and Malsagne blame Mossad.
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July 1972: day not established
The road to war · From the books
Kamel al-As'ad founds his Democratic Socialist Party.
In July 1972 Speaker Kamel al-As'ad, Sadr's rival for Shi'i leadership, set up a Democratic Socialist Party, partly to curb Communists and Baathists in the south.
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September 1972
Saturday, 16 September 1972
The road to war · From the books
After Munich, Israel invades South Lebanon for three days.
Israeli forces entered the south in reprisal for the Munich Olympics attack on Israeli athletes, striking Nahr al-Bared camp and southern and Bekaa villages. The Lebanese army held them up for two days; they left after three, destroying bridges and houses on the way out. De Clerck & Malsagne count 118 dead.
Sources differ: Death toll 118 (de Clerck & Malsagne) or more than 100 (Picard). Only de Clerck & Malsagne give the day.
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autumn 1972: day not established
The road to war · From the books
Habash and Jibril reject the 'freeze' Arafat accepts.
Urged by the government to hold back, Arafat agreed to suspend operations; Habash and Jibril said their groups were not bound. Hanf notes that southern Shi'is, at first wary of the guerrillas, came to blame government inaction for Israel's blows.
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November 1972
Friday, 3 November 1972
The road to war · From the books
Workers at the Ghandour factories begin an open-ended strike.
On 3 November 1972 an indefinite strike began at the Ghandour confectionery group, Lebanon's largest non-unionised industrial workforce. Workers wanted their factory committee recognised, the right to unionise, equal wages for women and higher pay.
Sources differ: Workforce: 1,200 in Shiyah (Traboulsi) or about 1,250 in Choueifat plus 350 in Chiyah (Tufaro).
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Saturday, 11 November 1972
The road to war · From the books
Police fire on Ghandour strikers, killing two.
Two workers died on 11 November 1972 when security forces opened fire outside Ghandour's Chiyah plant: Fatima al-Khawaja of the Communist Party and Yusuf al-Attar of the OCA's workers' committees. Others were wounded. De Clerck & Malsagne call it the first workers' protest since independence put down with deadly force.
Sources differ: Wounded: 14 (Traboulsi) or 19, including 13 policemen (de Clerck & Malsagne).
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mid-November 1972: day not established
The road to war · From the books
A general strike and mass rallies protest the Ghandour killings.
Protests broke out nationwide for three days. Under pressure from its members, the labour confederation called a one-day general strike, and Kamal Jumblatt led some 20,000 marchers to parliament, where the crowd shouted '99 thieves and 17 ruffians'. Salam's government refused any inquiry and made demonstrations subject to permits.
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December 1972
Friday, 15 December 1972
The road to war · From the books
Ghandour locks out and dismisses its workers.
Talks failed; the company locked out and sacked its whole workforce. Traboulsi says it reopened after a week, taking back all but 100 it saw as ringleaders; Tufaro describes a six-month lockout that fresh protests ended, with the demands unmet.
Sources differ: Length of the lockout: one week (Traboulsi) against a declared six months (Tufaro).
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Tuesday, 26 December 1972
The road to war · From the books
The left demonstrates against the Ghandour dismissals.
On 26 December the Left protested again at the Ghandour sackings. Tufaro: workers left the dispute resentful of state and CGTL alike.
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1972
1972: day not established
The road to war · From the books
The Arab Front for Participation in the Resistance is founded.
Some twelve progressive parties and organisations made up the Arab Front for Participation in the Resistance, set up in 1972 with the Lebanese National Movement among its founders.
The road to war · From the books
The 'Ring' expressway links Ashrafieh to Hamra.
From 1972 traffic between Christian Ashrafieh and Hamra, Beirut's second hub, could avoid the crowded centre on the Ring expressway. In the war it symbolised the split city.
Art and memory- place Linking Ashrafieh and Hamra since 1972, the Ring became a wartime emblem of the divided city; snipers fired on it from rooftops including the unfinished Murr tower.
The road to war · From the books
Sixteen thousand public school teachers strike for two months.
In 1972 the ministry broke a two-month nationwide public school teachers' strike by suspending salaries. They wanted higher pay, union rights and a pension after 25 years' service.
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1972 (month not given): day not established
The road to war · From the books
The last parliamentary elections before the war.
After the 1972 general elections there were none for twenty years; the parliament they chose sat through the whole war. Hanf rates them Lebanon's cleanest and freest; Traboulsi stresses how little they let new forces in.
Sources differ: Hanf: Lebanon's freest elections; Traboulsi, citing Le Monde: a chamber hardly representing public opinion.
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January 1986
Wednesday, 1 January 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
It is a bad beginning of the year for the Lebanese Forces. A conflict emerged within the party, causing exchanges of rockets and gunshots in Zalka and Nahr El Mott. Ten persons were killed or wounded. The signature by Elie Hobeika of the tripartite agreement in Damascus, triggered the fight.
What the books addHanf says that once the Tripartite Agreement had been signed, on 28 December 1985, Hobeika turned Lebanese Forces units against militias loyal to President Gemayel and the Kataeb.
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Monday, 13 January 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
13 hours of combats and military operations opposed the Phalangists, followers of the President of the Republic, to Elie Hobeika and his men. The Army intervened to separate the belligerents.
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Tuesday, 14 January 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The eleventh Gemayel-Assad summit was a total failure.
What the books addFor Gemayel, says Traboulsi, the accord robbed the presidency of its arbitrating role; they last met on 13-14 January 1986.
Other date in the books: Monday, 13 January 1986
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Wednesday, 15 January 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
In eight hours of violent fights, 100 persons were killed, and the chief of staff of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, evinced Elie Hobeika sending him into exile.
What the books addHistorians date Geagea's takeover to 15 January 1986 (de Clerck and Malsagne; Picard's chronology dates Gemayel's rejection of the accord to the same day). Traboulsi's narrative gives 12 March 1986 instead. De Clerck and Malsagne put the dead at about 800, far above the 100 given here. Hobeika was flown out by army helicopter after an army mediation backed by the patriarch, was briefly exiled in France, then settled in Zahle under Syrian protection.
Other date in the books: Wednesday, 12 March 1986
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Thursday, 16 January 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Confrontations started on the Northern Metn front. The shells kept falling intermittently during several months on Bickfaya, the Metn and the Kesrouan. The population in these regions was living in the fear of car bombs and blind bombardments.
What the books addHanf dates the main offensive, by SSNP fighters with Syrian support toward Bikfaya (at Douar and on the Baskinta-Bikfaya road), to the second half of February; it was stopped by the Lebanese army.
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Sunday, 26 January 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese radical opposition called President Gemayel to resign.
What the books addHanf writes that Prime Minister Karami joined Jumblatt and Berri in boycotting cabinet sessions chaired by Gemayel, whose resignation the two had demanded after the Tripartite Agreement failed.
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January 1986: day not established
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
A wave of assassinations targets Communist and pro-Iraqi Baath leaders.
Assassins killed a number of leading figures in the Lebanese Communist Party and the pro-Iraqi Baath.
Sources differ: Entry 902 places the killing of the Communist leaders Khalil Nous and Souheil Tawileh in late February.
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late January 1986: day not established
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Syria's allies boycott President Gemayel; the cabinet stops meeting.
Jumblatt, Berri, Prime Minister Karami and Selim al-Hoss refused to attend cabinet sessions chaired by Gemayel, whom Syria and its Lebanese allies boycotted after the Tripartite Agreement collapsed; the cabinet went months without meeting.
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February 1986
Wednesday, 12 February 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A bomb exploded in Ain El Remmaneh next to the entrance of a building where a Phalange Party office was located. Two persons lost their lives and 17 others were injured.
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Monday, 17 February 1986
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Two Israeli soldiers are captured at Beit Yahoun in South Lebanon.
At Beit Yahoun, a South Lebanese village, two Israeli soldiers were captured.
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Monday, 24 February 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Islamists killed a communist leader, Souheil Tawileh, in Mazraa. Four days earlier, another communist leader, Khalil Nous, was assassinated. Meanwhile, terrorist-killing attempts continued in the Eastern regions. A car bomb exploded on the Salomeh intersection, causing 4 dead and 16 injured.
What the books addPicard places the wave of killings of Communist and pro-Iraqi Baath leaders in January 1986.
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late February 1986: day not established
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Syrian-backed attacks on the Metn are stopped by the Lebanese army.
Late in February 1986 the army stopped two Syrian-backed SSNP attacks towards Bikfaya, at Douar and on the Baskinta road. A Syrian push on the northern edge of the Christian region failed too. Earlier that month Syrian guns had shelled East Beirut irregularly.
Sources differ: Entry 894 dates the start of fighting on the northern Metn front to 16 January.
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March 1986
Wednesday, 5 March 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Islamic Jihad announced the execution of Michel Seurat. The French sociologist was kidnapped on the 22nd of May at the same time as the journalist Jean-Paul Kauffmann.
What the books addSeurat and Kauffmann were taken on the airport road on 22 May 1985. Fisk says Seurat died of cancer in captivity, his kidnappers claiming an 'execution' with a photograph of the body. Imad Mughniyeh is suspected of a direct role (Aurélie Daher, in Confluences); Hezbollah's leaders always denied it.
Art and memory- book Historians of the war still rely on Michel Seurat's study of Tripoli's Bab al-Tebbaneh district.
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Saturday, 8 March 1986
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Four Antenne 2 journalists are kidnapped in Beirut's southern suburbs.
The Revolutionary Justice Organisation claimed the abduction of a four-man crew from the French television channel Antenne 2.
Sources differ: Entry 905 (Text field) gives 9 March; entry 965 gives 21 June.
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Sunday, 9 March 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The black series continued. Terrorism hit this time Jeetaoui where a car bomb killed 3 persons and wounded 40 others.
Four French journalists from Antenne 2 were kidnapped in Bir El Abed.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne date the kidnapping of the Antenne 2 crew to 8 March 1986. It was claimed by the "Revolutionary Justice Organisation".
Other date in the books: Saturday, 8 March 1986
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Friday, 21 March 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A sad gift for mother's day in the mountain: shells fell on 20 villages in the Metn and the Kesrouan. Violent combats were reported in the mountain, killing 3 and injuring 21 persons on this 'usual' day.
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Wednesday, 26 March 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A car stuffed with explosives and inflammable material exploded in Achrafieh, while a timing bomb ravaged a Phalangist office in Tahouita. Together, the two explosions killed 10 persons and wounded 80 others. The bombardment of the Eastern regions continued in the meantime.
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Thursday, 27 March 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
After the Fatah claimed responsibility for the Katioucha shots on Kiryat Shmona, the Israeli aviation attacked the camps of Mieh Mieh and Ain El Heloueh. Ten persons were killed and 30 others were wounded.
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Friday, 28 March 1986
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Two British teachers are kidnapped in Hamra.
Outside a Makhoul Street nightclub, armed men abducted Leigh Douglas and Philip Padfield, British teachers. Their bodies were found in mid-April.
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April 1986
Friday, 4 April 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The 45 French observers in charge of observing the dividing lines in Beirut and in the Mountain, left Lebanon. Their departure was probably due to political changes in France.
What the books addHanf cites the observers' heavy casualties and a ceasefire nobody respected, which left them nothing to do.
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Tuesday, 8 April 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Suddenly, horror hit the heart of Jounieh. A car bomb exploded killing 11 persons and wounding 89 others, spreading an indescribable panic and ravaging four residential buildings.
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Wednesday, 9 April 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A French teacher from the Collge Protestant Franais, Michel Brian, was kidnapped in Hamra, thus increasing the number of French nationals held hostages in Lebanon to 9.
Mgr Achille Silvestrini, the special envoy of Pope John Paul II, arrived in Lebanon to meet Lebanese and Syrian leaders, in an effort to end the crisis in the country. He left on April 14 after having partially failed in his mission.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne date Mgr Silvestrini's mission to March 1986 and consider that it overreached, showing the limits of Vatican influence.
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Friday, 11 April 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The French teacher, Michel Brian, kidnapped on April 7, was released in the Bekaa. Another Irish teacher, Brian Kenaan was kidnapped in West Beirut. To protest against the kidnapping of foreign professors, schools and universities in West Beirut went on strike on April 14.
Art and memory- book Anne Maguire's For Brian's Sake tells how Brian Keenan's sisters campaigned for his release.
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Thursday, 17 April 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The British teachers John Leigh Douglas and Philip Ralph Patfield, kidnapped on the 28th of March 1986, were executed and their bodies were thrown on the Roueissat-Sofar road. A cameraman, John McCarthy, was kidnapped on the Beirut International Airport road. An extremist organization announced the hanging of Alec Colett, a British journalist who was working at the UNRWA. The dead body of Peter Kilburn, librarian at the AUB, who was kidnapped on the 3rd of December 1984, was also found. Furthermore, the British embassy in Zokak EL Blatt was partially destroyed and burned by rocket shots.
What the books addFisk: Libyan agents in Beirut had bought Kilburn and both British teachers from freelance kidnappers; the deaths were reported the night of the US raid on Libya.
Art and memory- book John McCarthy and Brian Keenan, held together in Beirut, later wrote Between Extremes together, about a journey they had planned while in captivity; it is listed in 111101's References.
Other date in the books: Friday, 28 March 1986
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Saturday, 19 April 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Maronite Church had a new Patriarch in the person of Mgr Nasrallah Sfeir. A triple task was waiting for him. He had to reinstate the authority of the church, clean up the inter-religious relations, and reconcile the executive power with Syria.
What the books addHanf dates Sfeir's election to April 1986 and notes that the Lebanese Forces had lobbied for a more hard-line churchman.
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Sunday, 20 April 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
38 Westerners including 35 British left Beirut. By the end of April, all Western nationals had left West Beirut fearing to be kidnapped or killed.
What the books addSome Westerners stayed: Fisk counts four Western journalists still working in West Beirut.
Art and memory- testimony Robert Fisk's Pity the Nation describes 1986 in West Beirut from inside the fear of kidnapping, when only four Western journalists remained.
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May 1986
Saturday, 3 May 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While the bombardments continued in Beirut and its suburbs, the army closed all crossing points for security reasons, except the road of Hadeth Mreyjeh. Beirut was cut into two.
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Thursday, 8 May 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Starting this date, Lebanon was on the black list of terrorist countries put together by the European Community ad hoc commission. This was due to the activist bases and kidnappings that were taking place in the country.
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Friday, 9 May 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The opening of the airport of Halate caused discontent in the country. A few minutes after President Gemayel's airplane landed in Halate coming from a three-day trip in Tunisia, the airport was severely bombed.
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Saturday, 10 May 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Syrian President Hafez El Assad examined the possibility of modifying the tripartite agreement signed in December 1985. This treaty was one of the fundamental causes of the political and military crisis that was ravaging the country since January 15.
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Wednesday, 21 May 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
On the eve of the meeting in Dar El Fatwa between the Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir and the Mufti of the Republic Sheikh Hassan Khaled, artillerymen unleashed their guns, killing 30 persons and wounding 60 others. The meeting was postponed.
What the books addAccording to Hanf, the postponed meeting took place in June, in West Beirut.
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Friday, 23 May 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A new car bomb exploded in Sin El Fil early in the morning, when the schools were opening their doors. Seven persons were killed, 111 were wounded, and 3 had disappeared. A serious gas shortage hit West Beirut while the bombardments continued in both sectors of the capital.
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Monday, 26 May 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While the schools were closed to protest against the situation, a bomb exploded in Dora, killing a mother and her child and wounding seven persons. The conflict between the Lebanese Forces and Damascus reached its paroxysm while the camp war between Amal and the Palestinians clamed more victims.
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May-June 1986: day not established
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The second camps war between Amal and the PLO.
Amal and the Palestinians fought their second camps war in Beirut in May and June, pausing when army units with a Syrian battalion ringed Chatila and Bourj al-Barajneh late in June.
Sources differ: Hanf has fighting over the Beirut camps starting again as early as March and April 1986.
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June 1986
Friday, 13 June 1986
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Muslim leaders agreed with Damascus upon the replacement of militias by regular Lebanese forces. Karameh who was back from Damascus presented the resignation of his government.
What the books addHanf records no resignation by Karami in 1986. He says Karami resisted calls to resign that autumn and resigned only on 4 May 1987.
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dates 1–60 of 133 next
