Lebanese war chronology

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June 9, 1981		The American envoy Philip Habib began a new round of visits in the region.
June 23, 1981		While sporadic combats continued between the Army and the Arab Strike Force in Beirut, the city of Zahleh was under heavy bombardment.
June 23, 1981		The Arab Vigilance Committee resumed its meetings in Ryad at the level of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs. The meetings ended in June 24 with a press release emphasizing the necessity of consolidating the cease-fire. The same day however, Zahleh and Beirut were the scene of blind bombardments.
June 30, 1981		95 militiamen from the Lebanese Forces were evacuated from Zahleh with their individual weapons after having surrendered their heavy weapons to the Arab Strike Force and to the Internal Security Forces. An Internal Security Forces unit was positioned in the neighborhoods of Zahleh.
July 2, 1981		The Sodeco crossing way was officially opened to traffic. But the calm didn't last for more than 2 days, as snipers were back into action.
July 4, 1981		The Arab Foreign Affairs Ministers met in Beiteddine. However, no concrete measure was taken, it was a total impasse.
July 8, 1981		The chief of State Elias Sarkis, met with Bechir Gemayel and Pierre Gemayel. He announced after the meeting that he was given guarantees concerning the rupture of the relations with Israel.
July 10, 1981		In retaliation to an air raid launched by Israel in Southern Lebanon, the Palestinians bombarded Kyriat Shmona injuring 14 Israelis.
July 16, 1981		Within a few hours, the Israeli aviation destroyed 9 bridges in Southern Lebanon cutting off the supply roads of the Palestinian forces. 32 persons were killed and 97 were injured in just one day.
July 17, 1981		Tel Aviv launched the bloodiest attack against Lebanon. Israel bombarded the central district in Beirut, the headquarters of the Fateh, of the Democratic Palestinian Liberation Front and of the Popular Palestinian Liberation Front, killing 141 and injuring 730. This was the first time that Israel targeted the heart of a residential area in Beirut.
July 21, 1981		While the bombardment continued in South Lebanon, the Security Council ordered a cease-fire; but the latter wasn't observed despite the presence of the US envoy Philip Habib in the region.
July 24, 1981		Philip Habib finally succeeded in his mission. A cease-fire was reached and accepted by both the Israelis and the Palestinians.
July 27, 1981		The EDL started an electricity rationing program. There was a bad shortage of fuel due to the Israeli bombardment of the Zahrani oil refinery.
July 29, 1981		An air combat in which a Syrian MIG was shut down by Israeli Phantoms broke the precarious calm in Lebanon.
August 5, 1981		Violence surged in Tripoli. Bloody combats between the local militias continued in Tripoli claiming 20 dead and 40 injured.
August 13, 1981		The escalation of violence resumed in the capital while the country was entering a phase of political stagnation.
August 16, 1981		Elias Youssef Hannouch, 38 years old, former leader of the NLP, refugee in West Beirut since November 1980, was killed in Raoucheh with his two children.
August 17, 1981		20 persons were killed and 100 injured in the confrontations between the Amal movement and the Lebanese Communist Party in Chyah.
August 17, 1981		The Lebanese government called for an Arab summit to elaborate a common strategy against Israel and to relieve Lebanon from being the only country carrying the weight of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Chafic Wazzan declared in Taef: 'Lebanon cannot take further suffering'.
August 18, 1981		The baccalaureate exams were organized in a calm atmosphere.
August 21, 1981		The infernal bombardment cycle resumed. A bomb storm fell on Achrafieh and Basta, killing 3 persons, injuring 45 and destroying what was left to be destroyed.
August 30, 1981		The Internal Security Forces destroyed the illegal constructions in Ouzaï.
August 30, 1981		Claude Cheysson, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, declared after his 24-hour visit to Lebanon: 'It would be criminal to question the unity of Lebanon'.
September 3, 1981		A first encounter between Syrian officials and members of the Phalange Party in Baabda under the aegis of the Arab Committee resulted in the reopening of the roads.
September 4, 1981		The French ambassador, Louis Delamare, was cowardly assassinated 100 meters away from the Résidence des Pins.
September 5, 1981		Hamid Frangieh, one of the major figures of the Lebanese independence, died. Born in Ehden in 1907, he was the first Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Lebanese Independent State, in the 1943 cabinet of Riad Solh. He was deputy of Zghorta from 1943 to 1957. He negotiated in February 1948 the monetary convention with France. It was a big loss for Lebanon.
September 11, 1981		The Museum roadway was officially reopened after several days of shilly-shallying.
September 15, 1981		The axes longing the downtown's ruins up to Berjaoui and Sodeco were on fire since 7 o'clock in the morning. Several bombs fell on residential areas.
September 17, 1981		Two explosive attacks killed 29 persons and injured 116 in Chekka and Saida. Terrorism spread its tentacles to the entire country.
September 18, 1981		The nightmare continued. A car bomb exploded in Hay Soulloum killing three persons.
September 20, 1981		A bomb inside a theatre in Mazraa killed 4 and injured 27.
September 21, 1981		A car bomb in Hamra and an attack in Tripoli proved that horror was still haunting Lebanon. It seemed that it would never end.
September 28, 1981		Terrorism continued to spread in Lebanon. A car bomb exploded at Zrariyeh in the South killing 15 persons and injuring 50 others.
October 1, 1981		The horror record was broken. A car bomb devastated half of a street in the Boustani neighborhood in Tarik Jdideh killing 83 and injuring 225. Another car scheduled to explode a little bit later in the same area was defused.
October 18, 1981		The price of fuel increased by 36% and that of oil by 57%, which lead to shortages and a general increase of all prices.
October 26, 1981		Terrorism hit once again. 20 persons were injured in a car explosion in Sin el Fil.
November 2, 1981		The Arab Strike Force launched a security operation in the West of the capital where Palestinian, Libyan and Iranian influence multiplied lately.
November 20, 1981		Habib was expected to undertake a new mission in order to prevent a new round of hostilities in Lebanon.
November 24, 1981		A Lebanese delegation attended the Fez Summit, marked by a resounding failure.
November 27, 1981		Gerard Lenorman performed his famous song La ballade des gens heureux at the Casino du Liban in front of a public that still wanted to believe in happiness.