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.
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.
The eleventh Gemayel-Assad summit was a total failure.
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.
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.
A car bomb exploded in Furn El Chebback. An entire street of over 100 meters was devastated, 30 persons were killed, and 132 others were wounded.
The Lebanese Pound registered a fast decline. A new record was broken when the Dollar was being exchanged for 24 Lebanese Pounds.
The Lebanese radical opposition called President Gemayel to resign.
A delegation from the Union of Independent Maronite Deputies visited Damascus in an effort to reestablish the dialogue between the Christians and Syria.
Death hit once again. A bomb hidden in a suitcase exploded in Jdeideh killing four persons and wounding 22 others.
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.
President Gemayel met French President Miterrand and Pope John Paul II in the Vatican. He also met King Hassan II of Morocco.
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.
Artillery duels were raging between the Eastern and Western sectors of the capital, killing tens of persons, and wounding hundreds.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The dollar jumped from 19 to 23 Lebanese Pounds.
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.
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.
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.
There are no limits for barbarian crimes. A car bomb exploded in Saida killing three persons and wounding 35 others.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A serious outburst of violence plunged Beirut and its surroundings back into the anguish of blind bombardments. 4 persons were killed and 53 were injured.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A general strike was observed in universities and schools in West Beirut, to protest against repeated aggressions against teachers.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Georges Saadeh was elected new president of the Phalange Party replacing Dr. Elie Karameh.
Two French hostages, Philippe Rochot and Georges Hansen were released.