Lebanese war chronology

> back to chronology

May 24, 1982		A ferocious explosion hit the French embassy in Clémenceau killing 9 persons and wounding 26 others.
May 25, 1982		Israelis fighters shoot two Syrian Migs over the Kesrouan. The two pilots were handed in to the Arab Strike Force.
May 26, 1982		The French Prime Minister Pierre Mauroy declared during his visit in Beirut: 'France stays but is not at war with anyone.'
June 4, 1982		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.
June 5, 1982		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.
June 6, 1982		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.
June 8, 1982		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.
June 9, 1982		A gigantic air battle took place over the Bekaa. The Israelis were 10 kilometers away from Beirut.
June 10, 1982		The Lebanese Army deployed in West Beirut.
June 11, 1982		207 civilians died and 647 were wounded as a result of the Israeli barbarian operations.
June 13, 1982		The Israeli troops attacked Baabda where they occupied the Seraglio and the governmental hospital.
June 16, 1982		The bombings resumed on West Beirut.
June 18, 1982		The Beirut International Airport was also bombed.
June 20, 1982		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.
June 25, 1982		A savage bombardment of Beirut caused tens of victims. Simultaneously, a violent battle was raging close to Aley.
June 28, 1982		The PLO accepted the idea of leaving Beirut to save the city, with, in return, an Israeli withdrawal from the surroundings of the capital.
July 2, 1982		In a press conference held at the Alexander hotel, the Israeli Defense Minister, Ariel Sharon, invited the Lebanese to fight against the Palestinians.
July 3, 1982		While waiting for the PLO's response to the Israeli conditions, West Beirut was under a tight blockade.
July 4, 1982		Without renouncing to the diplomatic option, Israel toughened the pressure on Beirut, by depriving its inhabitants of water and electricity.
July 5, 1982		The Israelis controlled the Beirut International Airport where violent fights opposed them to the Palestinian-Progressive Joint Forces.
July 6, 1982		The US President, Ronald Reagan, decided to send American troops to Lebanon in order to reestablish peace and evacuate the Fedayin.
July 9, 1982		While Beirut and its suburbs were severely bombed, Damascus refused to receive the Fedayin.
July 10, 1982		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.
July 11, 1982		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.
July 19, 1982		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.
July 24, 1982		Bechir Gemayel announced his candidacy for the presidency of the Republic.
July 27, 1982		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.
July 29, 1982		The PLO pledged to withdraw its troops from Beirut.
July 31, 1982		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.
August 1, 1982		The occupation of West Beirut turned into an annihilation war. Violent attacks killed 165 persons and wounded 400 others.
August 4, 1982		West Beirut was violently bombed. President Elias Sarkis addressed a protest letter to the US President Ronald Reagan.
August 6, 1982		The Accra building occupied by refugees collapsed during an Israeli air raid on Beirut, provoking the death of 250 persons.
August 17, 1982		Prime Minister Chafic Wazzan announced that an agreement on the evacuation of the Fedayin from Beirut had been reached.
August 19, 1982		French, Italian, and American contingents were on their way to Lebanon.
August 21, 1982		397 Palestinian fighters were evacuated towards Larnaca after the arrival of the French paratroopers.
August 23, 1982		Bechir Gemayel was elected President of the Lebanese Republic at the second round, by 57 votes against five abstentions.
August 26, 1982		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.
August 29, 1982		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.
August 31, 1982		As the Arab Strike force was achieving its withdrawal from Beirut, Israeli fighters shoot a Mig 25 over Antelias.
September 1, 1982		The last Palestinian fighters left Lebanon. In 12 days, 10,876 Fedayin and 2,700 Syrian soldiers had left the Lebanese territory.