Twenty days after the resumption of the Iraqi oil pumping to the Tripoli terminal, the pipeline was dynamited. This incident seemed to be part of the Iran-Iraq war.
The confrontations between Amal militiamen and 'Partisans of the Communist Organization in Lebanon' caused 11 deaths and 4 injuries in West Beirut. These fights resumed on January 6 didn't end until the intervention of the Arab Strike Force.
What the books addHanf describes the Shi'i Amal movement fighting the Iraqi-backed Arab Liberation Front and small communist organisations in West Beirut in the first months of 1982.
Differences grew between Amal and the National Movement headed by Walid Joumblatt. Amal accused the NM of trying to replace the State and the Arab Strike Force by putting together a unified militia and instituting 'self-security'. The NM accused Amal of obstructing the execution of the return of order in West Beirut.
What the books addHanf sees Lebanese Muslim opinion turning against Syrian and Palestinian dominance in early 1982, as the Palestinians' Lebanese allies lost support and pre-war moderates regained standing.
During a meeting in presence of Chafic Wazzan, the Moslem conservatives rejected the ' self-security ' principle in West Beirut.
What the books addFor Hanf, early 1982 showed Muslim opinion shifting: Beirut's old leaders and clergy closed ranks against the National Movement's district-council elections and outnumbered it on the streets in March.
Added from the books
Israeli Defence Minister Ariel Sharon makes a secret visit to the Christian-held zone of Lebanon. Sharon came in person to see the ground and the Christians' political situation before the planned operation. Six days later, on 19 January, the LF sent a delegation to Tel Aviv to coordinate with the Israeli army.
Sources differ: Ménargues is inconsistent: his narrative gives 12–13 January, the Plan M annex 12 January, and since he puts the 19 January trip six days after the visit, that implies 13 January.
Wednesday, 13 January 1982
Added from the books
The Algerian envoy in Beirut is kidnapped and killed. Three gunmen seized Algeria's envoy, a minister plenipotentiary serving as ambassador, at his West Beirut home; his mutilated body later turned up on waste ground. Algeria afterwards charged his widow with ordering the killing.
The war between Amal and the National Movement was at its peak. The confrontations resumed and the tension reached Baalbeck and the Southern suburbs of Beirut.
The inflow of heavy Israeli weapons on the Lebanese territory continued. These weapons were installed in the borderline enclave controlled by Saad Haddad.
The investigation conducted in Italy on the vanishing of the Shiite Imam Moussa Sadr ended. The Italians were convinced that the Imam never left Libya.
Israel reiterated its threats against the South, while Lebanon continued its contacts to eliminate the dangers weighing on the Southern zone and to increase the number of UNIFL soldiers in the area.
A car bomb exploded next to the Palestinian camp of Ain El Heloueh killing 6 persons and injuring 12 others.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne, drawing on Ronen Bergman, attribute to Ariel Sharon a series of car bombings from October 1981, carried out under the name 'Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners' and aimed chiefly at Palestinians, to provoke retaliation that could justify an invasion. They list no individual attacks, so this bombing cannot be matched to their account.
Tension rose in North Lebanon where serious incidents were reported. Armed elements opened fire on a checkpoint of the Arab Strike Force. The combats continued for the following days, killing 18 persons and injuring 40.
What the books addHanf sets this fighting in a contest for Tripoli: with the local Sunni militia on their side, the Palestinians resisted Syria's bid to dominate the north.
Two car bombs killed 4 persons and injured 54 others in Raoucheh.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne, drawing on Ronen Bergman, attribute to Ariel Sharon a series of car bombings from October 1981, carried out under the name 'Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners' and aimed chiefly at Palestinians, to provoke retaliation that could justify an invasion. They list no individual attacks, so this bombing cannot be matched to their account.
A commando of the partisans of the Imam Moussa Sadr burst into the Beirut International Airport and took control of a Boeing 707 of the Kuwait Airways that had just landed with 195 passengers on board. The negotiations led to the release of the passengers. The commando members surrendered to the Arab Strike Force. After this incident, the Kuwaiti company interrupted its flights to Beirut.
The explosion of a car bomb killed 4 persons and wounded 26 others in Ouzaï.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne, drawing on Ronen Bergman, attribute to Ariel Sharon a series of car bombings from October 1981, carried out under the name 'Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners' and aimed chiefly at Palestinians, to provoke retaliation that could justify an invasion. They list no individual attacks, so this bombing cannot be matched to their account.
The adjournment of the meeting that the Arab Vigilance Committee was going to hold, irritated the Lebanese officials. The latter considered that the Arabs were careless about the explosive situation in Lebanon.
Another car bomb exploded in Jnah killing 6 persons and injuring 17 others.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne, drawing on Ronen Bergman, attribute to Ariel Sharon a series of car bombings from October 1981, carried out under the name 'Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners' and aimed chiefly at Palestinians, to provoke retaliation that could justify an invasion. They list no individual attacks, so this bombing cannot be matched to their account.
In his new mission to prevent the outbreak of war on the Lebanese-Israeli borderline, Habib gave insurances but no guarantees. At the same time, two car bombs exploded in Zouk and Maameltein.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne, drawing on Ronen Bergman, attribute to Ariel Sharon a series of car bombings from October 1981, carried out under the name 'Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners' and aimed chiefly at Palestinians, to provoke retaliation that could justify an invasion. They list no individual attacks, so this bombing cannot be matched to their account.
The plot against foreign embassies continued. A large number of embassies closed their doors, while those that were still open were a regularly subjected to threats or assaults.
What the books addThe 117 foreign diplomatic staff killed in the war included the ambassadors of France (4 September 1981), Iraq (15 December 1981) and Algeria (13 January 1982).
What the books addHanf: Amal regarded these pro-Iraqi and communist adversaries as Shi'is who had abandoned their faith, which made the fighting especially bitter.
A new car bomb exploded next to the Abed clock killing 2 persons and wounding 4 others.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne, drawing on Ronen Bergman, attribute to Ariel Sharon a series of car bombings from October 1981, carried out under the name 'Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners' and aimed chiefly at Palestinians, to provoke retaliation that could justify an invasion. They list no individual attacks, so this bombing cannot be matched to their account.
A general war was raging between Amal and the Palestinians. Meanwhile, the fights continued in the South and reached Beirut and its suburbs where 15 deaths were reported.
Six successive raids were reported within 90 minutes against Aramoun, Naameh and Damour, putting an end to a cease-fire that lasted 9 months. This new aggression claimed the lives of 80 victims.
What the books addFisk, on the coast road when it began, dates the Damour raid to 22 April: Israeli jets struck for over two hours, killing at least 19 Palestinians; Israel cited the death of a soldier on a mine in the south. For Fisk it previewed the invasion.
13 people died and 12 were injured as a result of 24 hours of intermittent fights in Tripoli between the Iraqi Baas and the Communist Party militiamen.
A general strike was observed by both sectors of Beirut, to protest against the assassination, on April 26, of Sheikh Ahmad Assaf, president of the Union of Islamic Associations and Institutions.
The terrorists were now targeting religious instances. After the assassination of Sheikh Assaf, Father Abousleiman was killed. Two other persons were killed in a church.
Israel launched several raids in Southern Lebanon.
Monday, 10 May 1982
Added from the books
The Israeli cabinet approves a limited military operation in Lebanon. Sharon put the plan to the cabinet as a 'limited police operation', never mentioning Beirut. 11 of the 18 ministers present voted in favour, and 17 May was set for the invasion.
A ferocious explosion hit the French embassy in Clémenceau killing 9 persons and wounding 26 others.
What the books addMalsagne counts eleven dead on the spot and many wounded. The Mar Takla chancery then gained weight and Baabda became the ambassador's residence.
The French Prime Minister Pierre Mauroy declared during his visit in Beirut: 'France stays but is not at war with anyone.'
Added from the books
The Lebanese Front adopts Bashir Gemayel as its candidate for the presidency. At its weekly meeting the Lebanese Front accepted Bashir Gemayel as candidate; the Kataeb political bureau's unanimous backing came next day, Amine Gemayel's vote publicly ending his own bid.
Thursday, 3 June 1982
Added from the books
The Israeli ambassador in London, Shlomo Argov, is shot and gravely wounded. Abu Nidal's dissident group, hostile to the PLO leadership, carried out the shooting, which Arafat condemned. Israel used it as the pretext for bombing Beirut the next day and for the invasion. De Clerck and Malsagne cite Ronen Bergman, who attributes the London attack to the Mossad.
Sources differ: Bergman's attribution to the Mossad, reported by de Clerck and Malsagne, is not shared by the other books.
Within an hour, the Israeli airplanes inflicted on Beirut the toughest bombing since the Fakahani attack in seven successive rounds. Sixty persons were killed and 270 injured in these air raids against the sectors of the Sports City, Sabra, Chatila, and Bourj Brajneh.
What the books addAbu Nidal's group, an enemy of the PLO leadership, had shot Shlomo Argov, Israel's ambassador in London, on the night of 3 June; Israel answered with the raids. Robert Fisk notes that the bombs hit a PLO arms dump in the old stadium near Fakhani and a Palestinian children's hospital by Sabra; Palestinian sources gave 50 dead, Lebanese officials 210 civilians. The original's 'Fakhani attack' is the Israeli raid of 17 July 1981.
The South was burning. Over 150 persons killed and 250 wounded were reported while the Israeli artillery, navy and aviation bombarded 38 towns and localities.
What the books addA Palestinian Katyusha killed an Israeli motorist in Galilee on 5 June, a day of some 50 Israeli raids by Fisk's count, which left civilians burning in cars on the coast road north of Damour. Picard's chronology and one passage of de Clerck and Malsagne date the start of the invasion to 5 June; the books' main chronologies give 6 June.
The Israelis invaded the South along three axes. The Security Council adopted immediately a resolution requesting the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all Israeli forces up to the internationally recognized borderlines. However, this did not stop Israel from reaching Saida and Tyr.
What the books addThe invasion, called 'Operation Peace for Galilee', began on Sunday 6 June: Israeli commandos crossed the border at 1.30 a.m. to attack Beaufort castle (Ménargues), and up to 25,000 troops moved along the coast, through Tibnin and across the eastern sector (Fisk). The government declared a limited aim of a 40-kilometre zone, but Defence Minister Ariel Sharon and Chief of Staff Rafael Eitan kept advancing (Hanf). One overview in de Clerck and Malsagne and Picard's chronology give 5 June.
Monday, 7 June 1982
Added from the books
An Israeli bomb kills more than 100 refugees sheltering in a Sidon school basement. At 2 a.m., neighbours said, a bomb that pierced three floors before exploding killed refugees from Tyre, Palestinian and Lebanese, in a Sidon elementary school's basement. Fisk saw the bodies; the Red Cross later put Sidon's civilian dead at 1,500-2,000.
The Israelis made a surprise breakthrough in the Upper-Chouf in Moukhtara, Barouk, Baakline, up to Ain Zhalta. The Israeli Prime Minister Menahem Begin sent a message to the Syrian President Hafez El Assad asking him not to intervene in the fights.
What the books addFisk: on 8 June Israeli paratroopers set up a listening post on the Barouk heights and close to 100 tanks advanced from Baaqlin to Beit Eddine, unopposed by the Chouf Druze. Hanf: Israel told Syria, via American diplomats, that its only target was the PLO.
Added from the books
Menachem Begin visits Beaufort castle and hands it over to Saad Haddad. Begin visited Beaufort, the crusader castle taken by Israeli troops after fierce resistance at the start of the invasion, and presented it as a symbol that the Palestinian presence in the south was finished. The cabinet in Jerusalem authorised Sharon to push north and cut the Beirut–Damascus road.
A gigantic air battle took place over the Bekaa. The Israelis were 10 kilometers away from Beirut.
What the books addOn 9 June Israeli aircraft destroyed the Syrian SAM missile batteries in the Bekaa and fought a long air battle with Syrian MiGs. Figures: 22 MiGs downed and 19 batteries destroyed that day (Ménargues); more than 80 planes and all missile batteries lost in five days (Picard). The same evening Israeli paratroopers took Damour, on the coast south of Beirut.
207 civilians died and 647 were wounded as a result of the Israeli barbarian operations.
What the books addRobert Fisk cites Red Cross and police counts of 9,583 killed and 16,608 wounded across Lebanon by 14 June; Israel's own civilian casualty figure for 4-21 June was 460. Hanf notes that the Syrian-Israeli ceasefire of 11 June excluded the PLO.
Added from the books
A ceasefire between Syria and Israel takes effect; it does not cover the PLO. Under US pressure prompted by Moscow, Begin agreed a late-morning ceasefire with Syria, before his army reached the Beirut-Damascus road. Attacks on the Palestinians and the drive on Beirut continued.
Saturday, 12 June 1982
Added from the books range
Two days of Israeli air raids kill more than 400 people in their West Beirut homes. Israeli raids on 12 and 13 June killed more than 400 people in residential blocks. Most of the dead were women and children and almost all were Lebanese civilians; the Sabra cemetery resorted to mass graves.
The Israeli troops attacked Baabda where they occupied the Seraglio and the governmental hospital.
What the books addOn 13 June Israeli forces reached Baabda and Yarze, seats of the presidency and the army command, and joined the Lebanese Forces' lines (Hanf, Ménargues); Fisk dates the arrival of Sharon and his forward troops at Baabda to just before midnight.
Monday, 14 June 1982
Added from the books
Israeli forces cut the Beirut-Damascus road: the siege of West Beirut begins. The siege of West Beirut, lasting until 21 August, began at dawn as the Israeli army, in a first, crossed the Beirut-Damascus road, trapping the Palestinian forces in the west with a Syrian brigade. By evening white sheets hung in Hamra and Amal fighters were seen dumping guns.
Sources differ: Hanf and Picard describe a siege of 'three months' or from mid-June without a day.
US envoy Philip Habib privately tells Bashir Gemayel that the United States will back his candidacy. At the American residence in Yarze, Habib sent Draper and Ambassador Dillon out of the room and told Bashir alone that Washington would back his presidential bid and deal with Saudi Arabia and Lebanon's Muslims.
A pause in the bombing of West Beirut sets off an exodus towards the east. When heavy bombing ceased at dawn, West Beirut residents crowded east through the Museum crossing, the only one open, past Israeli and Lebanese Forces checks; southern-suburb refugees, Palestinian and Shi'i, occupied empty buildings around Hamra.
A Public Salvation Committee was constituted. It included: Bechjr Gemayel, Walid Joumblatt, Nabih Berry, Nasri Maalouf, Chafic Wazzan, and Fouad Boutros. Walid Joumblatt resigned from office a few days later.
What the books addMénargues and Fisk date the decision to form the committee to 14 June; Traboulsi has it convening on 20 June. Philip Habib attended its sessions of 22 and 23 June. Its agenda, Traboulsi notes, dealt with the PLO's withdrawal, not the Israeli occupation; Jumblatt quit the committee and the cabinet rather than 'deal the final blow to the Palestinians', and Berri stopped taking part.
Monday, 21 June 1982
Added from the books
A long Israeli artillery bombardment of West Beirut begins at dawn. Israeli artillery hit West Beirut at about a shell a minute: hospitals, refugee-filled parks, Fakhani, the Bourj al-Barajneh camp, streets and homes. Some Palestinian guns had been moved into residential Hamra.
Thursday, 24 June 1982
Added from the books
Israeli forces drive the Syrian army out of Aley and Bhamdoun. West Beirut ended up fully besieged: the Israeli navy blockaded the coast, while troops advancing east along both sides of the highway, despite the truce, cut the PLO and a Syrian brigade in the city off from Syria's main army.
A savage bombardment of Beirut caused tens of victims. Simultaneously, a violent battle was raging close to Aley.
Added from the books
US Secretary of State Alexander Haig resigns. Haig, who wanted Israel given a free hand and alone condoned a long siege, gave way to George Shultz. Hanf and de Clerck and Malsagne see Washington distancing itself from Israel over Lebanon; the PLO took heart.
The PLO accepted the idea of leaving Beirut to save the city, with, in return, an Israeli withdrawal from the surroundings of the capital.
What the books addFisk dates the PLO's statement that it would leave Beirut, made public by Saeb Salam, to 30 June; Hanf puts its agreement in principle only at the end of July. On 27 June an Israeli cabinet statement had first floated a negotiated exit: the Lebanese army would take over West Beirut and the disarmed fighters would leave by road for Syria (Ménargues).
In a press conference held at the Alexander hotel, the Israeli Defense Minister, Ariel Sharon, invited the Lebanese to fight against the Palestinians.
What the books addBashir Gemayel, back from Saudi Arabia on 2 July, said the PLO did not mean to leave. Two hours earlier, at the Alexandre Hotel, Sharon had told reporters, Robert Fisk among them, that Israel's only aim was to destroy the PLO and it wanted not 'one square inch' of Lebanon.
While waiting for the PLO's response to the Israeli conditions, West Beirut was under a tight blockade.
Added from the books
More than 100,000 Israelis demonstrate in Tel Aviv against the war. The demonstration, which called for negotiations with the Palestinians, was organised by a 'Committee against the war in Lebanon' set up at the end of June. Before that, also at the end of June, thousands had demonstrated outside Begin's home while the cabinet met.
Sources differ: Ménargues dates the protest outside Begin's home to 'Sunday 28 June'; 28 June 1982 was a Monday.
Without renouncing to the diplomatic option, Israel toughened the pressure on Beirut, by depriving its inhabitants of water and electricity.
What the books addA US-backed Security Council resolution demanded that West Beirut's water and power be restored; Lebanon's minister of hydroelectric resources called the Israeli step 'inhuman'. Fisk dates the cut to early on 5 July, when Israel switched off electricity and water and barred food, having reduced power since the third week of June. Ménargues describes a further cut on 26 July.
While Beirut and its suburbs were severely bombed, Damascus refused to receive the Fedayin.
What the books addIn Ménargues, Damascus unofficially signalled no objection to transit through Latakia on 7 July, then officially refused the fighters on 9 July, the day Israeli troops took the Beit Eddine army barracks.
Added from the books
The Israeli army takes over the Lebanese army barracks at Beit Eddine. Israeli troops ousted the 150 Lebanese soldiers from the Beit Eddine barracks at dawn, beginning a plan, made with the LF, to station an LF unit there and disarm some Druze villages.
Philip Habib suggested that the French troops evacuate the Fedayin. Despite the approval of this formula by Beirut, Paris, and the PLO, an obstacle subsisted: the destination country of the Palestinian fighters.
It was apocalypse in Beirut! The two sectors of the capital as well as the mountain were heavily bombed during 15 hours non-stop, killing 75 persons and injuring 180 others.
While Beirut was still under blockade, sporadic confrontations opposed the Israelis and the Palestinians, and innocent victims continued to fall. The President of the AUB, David Dodge, was kidnapped in the middle of the campus.
What the books addDavid Dodge was the acting president of AUB. Two gunmen in a car seized him on the campus; he was held for a year, taken to Iran, and released with Syrian help (Fisk).
Thursday, 22 July 1982
Added from the books
Waves of Israeli fighter-bombers attack West Beirut after an ambush in the south. Israel answered a Palestinian ambush that killed five of its soldiers in the occupied south by sending Kfir and F-16 jets to bomb West Beirut's camps and homes for hours. In late July raids came almost every day.
Bechir Gemayel announced his candidacy for the presidency of the Republic.
What the books addBashir Gemayel announced his candidacy on 24 July on the Kataeb radio Voice of Lebanon, introduced by his brother Amine (Ménargues; Hanf gives 25 July). The Lebanese Front had already endorsed him on 26 May.
Monday, 26 July 1982
Added from the books
Heavy bombardment of Beirut; Israeli soldiers cut West Beirut's water and power. During heavy bombing, West Beirut lost its water at 5.50 p.m., when Israeli soldiers shut the valves at the distribution centre's control room, and then its electricity. Ghassan Tueni, Lebanon's ambassador to the UN, sent the Secretary-General a letter of protest.
Sources differ: Fisk dates a first cut of water and power to 5 July (see check of event 574).
On the eve of the return to Beirut of the US envoy, and the opening of the conference of the Arab Committee, Israel bombed West Beirut. The Palestinian forces retorted by shelling East Beirut. 112 deaths and 232 injuries were reported so far.
What the books addAmong the targets on 27 July was an apartment building on Iskandar Street where, according to Robert Fisk, almost a hundred people were killed.
The PLO pledged to withdraw its troops from Beirut.
Added from the books
Israeli phosphorus shells hit the Bourj al-Barajneh camp. At the Barbir hospital Dr Amal Shamaa logged 19 phosphorus burn cases from 6 June to 29 July, all civilians but one guerrilla. They included a woman and eleven relatives, still alight on arrival after a shell hit the family's two-storey shack in the camp.
Around a hundred women from West Beirut headed by the Prime Minister's wife, Whajiha Wazzan, gathered in the American University of Beirut for an open sit-in to protest against the blockade of West Beirut.
The occupation of West Beirut turned into an annihilation war. Violent attacks killed 165 persons and wounded 400 others.
What the books addMénargues dates Israel's offensive to 2 August: 48 hours of non-stop artillery fire (280,000 shells and bombs, on Israel's own count), then ground attacks at the museum, the port and Bir Hassan, which were halted.
Monday, 2 August 1982
Added from the books
Israel launches a major offensive against West Beirut. By Israel's own figure, the opening 48 hours of non-stop bombardment came to 280,000 shells and bombs. Palestinian fighters and their allies then held its columns at the Museum, the port and Bir Hassan.
Sources differ: Original event 585 is dated 1 August; Fisk describes the peak of the bombardment on 4 August.
West Beirut was violently bombed. President Elias Sarkis addressed a protest letter to the US President Ronald Reagan.
What the books addFisk: on 4 August Israeli tanks crossed at the museum and 13 Israeli soldiers died by shellfire near the airport. Israeli shells and bombs hit the Wadi Abu Jamil synagogue, refugees in Sanayeh park, the prime minister's office, hotels, newspaper offices and hospitals.
The Accra building occupied by refugees collapsed during an Israeli air raid on Beirut, provoking the death of 250 persons.
What the books addIn rue Aussi near Sanayeh park a car bomb exploded among rescuers minutes after Israeli bombs levelled two five-storey blocks, says Robert Fisk's dispatch datelined West Beirut, 5 August; a neighbour put over 100 people, mostly squatters from the camps and the south, beneath the rubble. Arafat had reportedly met there just before.
Saturday, 7 August 1982
Added from the books
The PLO approves the final version of the Habib plan for its evacuation. On 6 August Habib told Sharon a 'package deal' could be wrapped up in 48 hours: the French would go ashore the morning the Palestinians began leaving, the other contingents after. The PLO accepted on 7 August; Israel on 16 August (Menargues) or 19 August (de Clerck and Malsagne).
Sources differ: Israel's approval: 16 August (Ménargues, extraordinary cabinet) or 19 August (de Clerck and Malsagne).
Thursday, 12 August 1982
Added from the books
Israeli aircraft bomb West Beirut for nine hours, mainly Sabra and Chatila. Prime Minister Wazzan protested at the presidential palace that Lebanon had made every concession asked, and Habib demanded an immediate ceasefire, as dozens of Israeli fighter-bombers struck the camps and southern suburbs. Unannounced, the jets came in very low from just after dawn, dropping hundreds of tons of bombs. Doctors would put the dead only at 'several hundred'.
French, Italian, and American contingents were on their way to Lebanon.
Friday, 20 August 1982
Added from the books
The PLO hands over two captured Israelis and nine coffins. The evacuation opened at the port, where Red Cross vehicles brought nine coffins of Israeli dead and the two prisoners, pilot Ahiaz Aharon, captured on 6 June, and soldier Ronnie Aoush, across the line. The Habib plan went to the UN the same day.
397 Palestinian fighters were evacuated towards Larnaca after the arrival of the French paratroopers.
What the books addThe first multinational troops, Foreign Legion paratroopers (350 per Fisk, 800 per Ménargues), landed at dawn; then 397 Palestinians sailed for Larnaca on the Greek ship Sol Georgios. The day before, the PLO had freed its two Israeli prisoners and returned nine coffins.
Art and memory
artwork For the day the evacuation would begin, Naji al-Ali drew As-Safir a Palestinian fighter bidding a Lebanese militiaman farewell, at the editor's request in early August 1982.
Bechir Gemayel was elected President of the Lebanese Republic at the second round, by 57 votes against five abstentions.
What the books addHeld at the Fayadiyeh military academy after the 19 August session at Villa Mansour was put off. Some deputies arrived under escort; the quorum of 62 was met soon after midday, and Bashir won the second ballot with 57 votes and five blank. Hanf notes that only half the Greek Orthodox and a quarter of the Sunni deputies came. That night the homes of West Beirut deputies who had attended were burned.
Wednesday, 25 August 1982
Added from the books
US Marines land in Beirut, their first landing there since 1958. The 32nd Marine Amphibious Unit, some 800 strong, began landing at Beirut port soon after dawn, and within hours its men were guarding PLO fighters as they boarded ships for Tartus in Syria. For the cameras, a Marine officer shook hands with a Palestine Liberation Army officer.
Sources differ: Ménargues places the Marine landing on 27 August.
The Lebanese authorities claimed the withdrawal of the Fedayin from the Bekaa region and the North, while the Italian and French contingents arrived to Beirut.
What the books addMénargues has the Hittin brigade's 1,350 Palestine Liberation Army soldiers driving out to Damascus on 26 August, as Italian Bersaglieri of the San Marco regiment and more French legionnaires came ashore. Robert Fisk dates the first US Marine landing to 25 August; Ménargues to 27 August.
The Lebanese Army deployed in the central district in Beirut while the soldiers of the Arab Strike Force still positioned in Beirut, were being evacuated.
Monday, 30 August 1982
Added from the books
Yasser Arafat leaves Beirut by sea. The last units of Syria's 85th Brigade left by road the day Arafat sailed. After stopping at Walid Jumblatt's house he boarded the Greek ship Atlantis with several hundred fighters, protected by French legionnaires and US Marines, and reached Tunis, the PLO's new headquarters, via Athens.
The last Palestinian fighters left Lebanon. In 12 days, 10,876 Fedayin and 2,700 Syrian soldiers had left the Lebanese territory.
What the books addCounts of those evacuated between 21 August and 1 September differ: 14,398 Palestinians and Syrians, including 664 women and children of PLO cadres (de Clerck and Malsagne); 14,938 Palestinians by 30 August (Ménargues); about 15,000 by sea plus 6,500 Syrian and PLA soldiers by land (Hanf). On 1 September President Reagan announced his peace plan.
Art and memory
book Abou Zaki shows how Lebanon's Palestinians, among the war's chief losers, are blamed as its chief culprits. In 2008 the Palestinian Authority formally apologised to the Lebanese state for wrongs done, notably in 1975-1982.
Added from the books
President Reagan announces a new Middle East peace plan. Begin rejected it out of hand and Damascus saw it as a bid to decide without Syria. It began with a settlement freeze and aimed at autonomy for West Bank and Gaza Palestinians 'in association with Jordan'.
Added from the books
President-elect Bashir Gemayel meets Menachem Begin in northern Israel. Facing Begin, with Sharon and Shamir beside him, Bashir asked for six to nine months to consolidate his power before any early peace treaty; Traboulsi says he left humiliated. The meeting leaked within days; he denied it.
Sources differ: Place: Nahariya (Ménargues) or Natania (Traboulsi); leak reported on 2 September (Traboulsi) or 3 September (Ménargues).
According to a United Nations report, between the 6th of June 1982 and the 15th of August 1982, 6,775 persons had been killed and 30,000 others wounded. Over 80% of these victims were civilians form West Beirut. According to the same source, 2,094 seriously injured persons had been burned by phosphor bombs.
What the books addFigures differ by source and cut-off date. De Clerck and Malsagne cite a Lebanese police report of November 1982 covering 4 June to 21 August: 19,085 dead, 6,775 of them in Beirut and 84% of them civilians, and 30,302 wounded. Ménargues, citing police reports, gives 17,825 dead and 30,103 wounded from 4 June; Fisk gives almost 17,825 dead from 4 June to the end of September. Picard cites UNICEF: 29,506 dead and wounded between 4 June and 15 August, 80% of them civilians in Beirut and its suburbs. The 6,775 dead in the original therefore appear to be Beirut's share only.
The Marines left Beirut after having accomplished their mission.
What the books addThe Marines pulled out on 10 September, a week or more before their mandate expired; the Italians left on 11 September and the French on 12–13 September (Ménargues, Hanf). Their last landing craft bore a 'Mission accomplished' banner. The Sabra and Chatila massacre began a few days after the last French troops left.
Saturday, 11 September 1982
Added from the books
Bashir Gemayel meets Saeb Salam, the leading Sunni figure of West Beirut. Bashir Gemayel, now pledging to be president of all Lebanese and distancing himself from Israel, met Saeb Salam at Baabda; West Beirut's Sunni leaders proved ready to work with him.
Bechir Gemayel was killed by a bomb set in the headquarters of the Phalange Party in Achrafieh. The explosion killed 20 persons and wounded 60 others. The Lebanese President was gone and the hope that had pervaded the hearts of the Lebanese had vanished in seconds.
What the books addBashir Gemayel was killed at about 4 p.m. during his weekly visit to the Kataeb office in Ashrafieh, nine days before taking office. The bomb, about 35 kilos of explosive, had been placed two days earlier in the flat above by Habib Tanios Chartouni, a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, arrested on 16 September (Ménargues). Prime Minister Wazzan announced the death at midnight. Hanf counts 26 dead.
Art and memory
memorial Each 14 September Achrafieh marked Bashir Gemayel's death with a gathering at his monument in Place Sassine, under wall slogans such as 'Bashir lives in us'.
testimony Robert Fisk notes a story among East Beirut Maronites that Bashir had left the ruins alive, climbed into an ambulance and would return.
Bechir Gemayel's funerals in Bickfaya united the whole country. A national mourning was announced for one week. All Lebanese parties denounced the criminal act that killed the future President of the Republic who was the advocate of a Lebanese identity and of the necessity of reaching a national understanding.
What the books addIn Ménargues's account of the Bikfaya funeral, Bashir's coffin was carried from the church of Mar Abda onto a gun carriage before the entire government, the diplomatic corps and every deputy, even those who had boycotted his election. Israeli troops had entered West Beirut at 5 a.m. that day, breaching the agreement negotiated by Philip Habib.
Added from the books
The Israeli army enters West Beirut. Israel said it was preventing a 'bloodbath' when its troops moved into West Beirut at 5 a.m., hours after Bashir Gemayel's death was announced, in breach of commitments given through Philip Habib. Leftist militias resisted in places. The Israeli army surrounded the Sabra and Chatila camps without entering them.
The Israelis' attacks against West Beirut continued, killing 31 persons and injuring 121 others. Major damages were also reported.
What the books addIsraeli troops entered West Beirut at 5 a.m. on 15 September, the morning after Bashir Gemayel's death, against the commitments given through Philip Habib; Lebanese leftist militias fought them in parts of the city.
Added from the books range
Militiamen sent into Sabra and Chatila by the Israeli army begin a massacre that lasts until the morning of 18 September. Elie Hobeika's Lebanese Forces security men entered the camps on the evening of 16 September under Israeli flares, inside an Israeli cordon; according to witnesses, Saad Haddad's militiamen went in first. The killing went on through the 17th until the morning of the 18th, when reporters first got in. See the check of original event 606.
Sources differ: Traboulsi gives 15-17 September and Hanf 17-18 September; most books give 16-18 September.
Added from the books
The left founds the Lebanese National Resistance Front to fight the Israeli occupation. Three parties founded it: the Lebanese Communist Party, the Organisation of Communist Action and the Arab Socialist Action Party. It coordinated armed action against Israeli troops in Beirut, the Mountain, the south and the Bekaa.
Sources differ: Picard dates the Front's first attacks to the end of August, before its formal launch.
Added from the books
Habib Tanios Chartouni, Bashir Gemayel's assassin, is arrested. A cousin leading a group in the LF security service arrested Habib Tanios Chartouni, a 26-year-old Syrian Social Nationalist Party member, at about 5.30 p.m.; he confessed on camera. Handed to the army in April 1983, he walked free on 13 October 1990, when Syrian troops entered the Metn.
Jawad Boulos died. He was 82 years old. He was born on January 1, 1900 in Zghorta. This Historian and Philosopher published several books. He studied in the Antoura College before majoring in law from the French Faculty of Law in Beirut. The country lost a lawyer, a deputy, a minister, and one of its greatest historians.
What the books addJawad Boulos was one of three 'wise men' in the leadership of the Christian Lebanese Front, with Fouad Ephrem Boustani and Charles Malek (Hanf).
Hundreds of women, elderly persons, men and children were massacred in the Palestinian camps of Sabra and Chatila. This ignominious act shook the world. Some militias were accused of committing the crime. Nevertheless, as usual in Lebanon, the identity of the murderers remained unknown while the victims were all innocent persons. .
What the books addThe massacre lasted from the evening of Thursday 16 September to the morning of Saturday 18 September (Traboulsi gives 15-17, Hanf 17-18). The killers were militiamen of the Lebanese Forces' security service under Elie Hobeika, together with men of Saad Haddad's South Lebanon militia. The Israeli army, which controlled the area after entering West Beirut on 15 September, let them into the camps, lit the camps with flares at night and watched from command posts nearby. Israel's Kahan Commission, published on 7 February 1983, held the Phalangists directly responsible and found Defence Minister Ariel Sharon personally responsible, recommending his removal; it also attributed indirect responsibility to other Israeli political and military leaders. Estimates of the dead range from about 460-800 to 3,500; Bayan Nuwayhed al-Hout's survey found victims of twelve nationalities, about half Palestinian and more than a quarter Lebanese.
Art and memory
film Ari Folman's autobiographical animated documentary Waltz with Bashir (2008) showed how central Israeli soldiers were to the massacre.
film Massaker (2005), by Lokman Slim and Monika Borgmann, records former Lebanese Forces militiamen describing their part in the massacre.
testimony Jean Genet entered Chatila on 19 September 1982; de Clerck and Malsagne count his 'Four Hours in Shatila' (1983) among the war's most harrowing accounts.
artwork Drawing on Genet's text, Iraqi painter Dia al-Azzawi made nine prints in 1983; his polyptych Sabra and Shatila Massacre (1982-83) is now at Tate Modern.
novel Sorj Chalandon, Libération's man in Lebanon, was among the first into the camps; his 2013 novel Le Quatrième Mur depicts the massacre.
book Bayan Nuwayhed al-Hout's Sabra and Shatila, September 1982 (2004) surveys the victims and records witnesses' descriptions of the killers.
novel In activism and in fiction, notably Bab al-Shams (Gate of the Sun), Elias Khoury sought to make Palestinians' war experience part of Lebanese memory.
novel In Rawi Hage's De Niro's Game (2006), George returns from the Sabra and Shatila massacre, in which he took part, and describes the killings.
Monday, 20 September 1982
Added from the books
Israeli ministers Yitzhak Shamir and Ariel Sharon meet Amine Gemayel secretly on the eve of his election. After dark an Israeli CH-53 helicopter brought Shamir, Sharon and Mossad officers to a spot behind the Zouk power plant; Lebanese Forces cars took them to Dbayeh to meet the Kataeb candidate.
Amine Gemayel was elected President of the Lebanese Republic, while the Lebanese army took in charge the Palestinian camps.
What the books addAmine Gemayel was elected in the same Fayadiyeh barracks as his brother, with 77 votes of the 80 deputies present (Hanf). On the evening of 20 September Israeli ministers Yitzhak Shamir and Ariel Sharon had met him secretly at Dbayeh (Ménargues).
The French contingent of the multinational force arrived in Beirut; the Americans and Italians were on their way too.
Added from the books
Wave of abductions in West Beirut; Wadad Halwani's husband is taken from their home. Hundreds of Lebanese Muslims and Palestinians were seized as army and Lebanese Forces units swept West Beirut when Amine Gemayel took office; many were never traced. On 24 September Wadad Halwani's husband was abducted at home in Ras al-Nabaa by two gunmen who said they belonged to a Lebanese state body. In 1982 she founded the Committee of the Families of the Kidnapped and Disappeared in Lebanon.
Art and memory
testimony Wadad Halwani's campaign began when her husband was abducted in 1982; 36 years later, on 12 November 2018, parliament passed Law 105.
Saturday, 25 September 1982
Added from the books
About 400,000 Israelis demonstrate in Tel Aviv against the Sabra and Chatila massacre. The largest demonstration in Israel's history drew about one Israeli in nine, who called for an inquiry and for Begin's government to resign.
The Marines disembarked in Beirut while the Israelis were achieving the evacuation of the capital.
Sunday, 3 October 1982
Added from the books
Lebanese troops seal off a quarter of Beirut for mass searches and arrests. Watched by French and Italian MNF troops, thousands of Lebanese soldiers sealed off West Beirut districts at dawn; Palestinians, southern Shi'is, Sudanese, Turks and Kurds lacking valid papers went by lorry, some blindfolded, to East Beirut for questioning.
Prime Minister Chafic Wazzan announced the creation of the first government to the new presidential mandate. It included: Chaffic Wazzan: Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Elie Salem: Vice-President of the Council, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minster of Emigrants. Roger Chikhani: Minister of Justice and Information Pierre El Khoury: Minster of Public Works, Transports, and Agriculture Ibrahim Halaoui: Minister of Economy, Trade, and Tourism Bahaeddine Bsat: Minister of Hydraulic and Electric Resources, Housing, and Cooperatives Adnan Mroueh : Minister of Health, Social Affairs, and Labor Issam Khoury: Minister of National Defense, National Education and Fine Arts Georges Frem: Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, Industry and Oil Adel Hamiyeh : Minster of Finance
What the books addJumblatt, passed over, became the government's first major opponent, and Amal was barely courted; Hanf judges the ministers able but politically weightless.
The situation in the capital was back to its normal course of action, since the policemen were addressing citations to drivers, the campaign against squatters was intensified, and the confiscation of weapons continued.
What the books addHistorians describe this 'return to normal' as harsh for West Beirut. The army's first task was to evict squatters, most of them refugees from the south, and street hawkers, with no rehousing (Hanf). Police backed by bulldozers razed shanty areas in Ouzai and Raml al-Ali and fired on protesting residents (Traboulsi). Fisk describes arrests of anyone without valid papers on 3 October, when thousands of troops sealed off a whole district. Hundreds of Palestinians and Lebanese Muslims seized in these weeks disappeared.
The Israelis interfered in Kfarmatta to end the violent conflict between the Phalange Party and the SPP..
What the books addAfter the Israeli advance, Lebanese Forces militiamen set up checkpoints in the Chouf and Aley; clashes with Druze fighters followed and the Israelis often mediated (Hanf). De Clerck and Malsagne date the 'Mountain War' from summer 1982, the Lebanese Forces fighting first the SSNP's Druze and then the PSP.
The killing attempts continued against Israeli soldiers. A car bomb exploded in Bhamdoun killing 3 persons, of which two were Israeli, and injuring 10 others.
Amine Gemayel delivered a moving speech at the United Nations. The chief of State addressed a message to the international community calling all parties to go beyond ideologies and dogmatism and to restore peace in the Middle East. He concluded saying 'Give us peace and we will astound the world once again.'
After the triumphal welcome he received in New York and at the United Nation, President Gemayel realized some progress during his meetings with the U.S. President Ronald Reagan, towards a permanent resolution of the Lebanese crisis.
Having received and international back up to his efforts, the President of the Republic focused on boosting the negotiations to reach a comprehensive resolution of the Lebanese question. The short-term goals were: an agreement on the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Lebanon and an increase in the size of the Multinational Force, as well as an extension of its area of deployment which was currently limited to Beirut and its close surroundings.
Sister Theresa arrived in Beirut for a short visit of several days. She offered housing to 37 young Lebanese, providing them with everything they needed.
Monday, 8 November 1982
Added from the books
Massacre at Kfar Nabrakh in the Chouf, the first of the 'Mountain War'. PSP fighters attacked a Christian funeral at this mixed village after the Lebanese Forces set up a checkpoint nearby, leaving eleven dead and eleven wounded. They also kidnapped nine villagers, a child and two teenagers among them, and burned about twenty houses; the captives were found dead in a well on 23 November, raising the Christian toll to twenty. LF leaders and press then invoked the 1860 massacres against the Druze.
Thursday, 11 November 1982
Added from the books
An explosion destroys the Israeli military headquarters in Tyre. Israel first suggested a gas leak. The eight-storey building had fallen in seconds; from its ruins came 75 Israeli dead, many from Shin Bet, and 15 Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners held there.
The Israelis reinforced their control in the Chouf and Aley. The leaders in the mountain called upon Amine Gemayel who seemed determined to speed the settlement of the crisis in the Druze-Christian regions.
The Lebanese Forces and the Progressive Socialist Party militiamen started a merciless war in the cazas of Aley and the Chouf.
What the books addOn 8 November 1982 PSP men attacked a Christian funeral in Kfar Nabrakh, a mixed Chouf village, killing eleven, in reaction to a Lebanese Forces checkpoint set up nearby. Some twenty houses were burned and nine villagers abducted; their bodies were found in a well on 23 November. De Clerck and Malsagne call it the Mountain War's first massacre.
In a message addressed to the nation, the chief of State declared : 'Lebanon will recover its independence by all means.'
Monday, 22 November 1982
Added from the books
The Lebanese army marches through East and West Beirut on Independence Day. Washington pledged two years of trainers and modern arms to rebuild the army; it was a short euphoric spell: the city reunited, the PLO gone, multinational troops back.
The leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Joumblatt escaped a killing attempt that resulted in 3 dead and 42 injuries.
What the books addThe attempt on Walid Jumblatt left him only slightly hurt. Hanf sees it as one more spur to Druze mobilisation, which put about 30,000 men under arms.
A wide meeting in Baabda reached an agreement on the creation of a Lebanese strike force in charge of reestablishing order and security in Aley and the Chouf.
Wednesday, 8 December 1982
Added from the books
General Ibrahim Tannous is appointed commander of the Lebanese army. Ibrahim Tannous took over as the army's commander-in-chief.
Israeli-Lebanese negotiations started in Lebanon. But Israel was still sticking to its position.
1982: day not established
March 1982
Added from the books
Beirut's traditional leaders lead mass demonstrations against the National Movement. In March 1982 Beirut's old Sunni leaders, Saeb Salam among them, and its religious figures held mass rallies against district-council elections called by the National Movement, outnumbering its supporters on the streets. Hanf treats this as evidence of growing Muslim weariness with Syrian and Palestinian domination.
mid May 1982
Added from the books
Fighting in Sidon between Sunni Nasserist militias and Fatah. Sunni Nasserist militias and Fatah fought deadly battles in Sidon in mid-May 1982. Hanf links them to the Lebanese-Palestinian clashes that spread through the country that spring.
June 1982
Added from the books
Iranian Revolutionary Guards enter Lebanon and settle in the Bekaa. In June 1982 between 500 and 2,000 Iranian Revolutionary Guards entered Lebanon and settled around Baalbek and Hermel. They trained and aided those fighting the occupation and set up schools, hospitals and charities. De Clerck and Malsagne tie them to the rise of Hezbollah, which they trained.
December 1982
Added from the books
Ariel Sharon threatens the Kataeb leader Pierre Gemayel over the coming negotiations. Unless the president stopped relying on Washington alone and met Israel's demands, Sharon warned his father Pierre, he would be only 'mayor of Baabda'.