Chronology / 1981

Lebanese war chronology - 1981

May 5, 1981		The Lebanese Syrian plan outlined three main stages: The national understanding, the settlement of the conflict between Beirut and Damascus, and the organization of the relation with Palestinians.
May 7, 1981		About 7,000 reinforcement Syrian troops were dispatched to the Bekaa region, to prepare against an eventual Israeli offensive.
May 8, 1981		The American envoy Philip Habib began his talks at the Baabda Palace.
May 9, 1981		Both sectors in Beirut witnessed a day of terror. Blind bombardments caused 21 dead and 98 wounded. The shelling reached Jounieh, Bkerkeh, and Beit Mery.
May 11, 1981		Once again, the civil population of East and West Beirut was under siege. The criminal violence claimed the lives of 18 persons and injured another173. A war psychosis haunted the Bekaa region where the residents were fleeing from the areas next to the SAM anti-aircrafts missiles deployed by the Syrian forces, fearing a Syrian-Israeli confrontation.
May 12, 1981		SAM missiles were launched against Israeli spy airplanes.
May 12, 1981		The Lebanese stock exchange market panicked as the dollar's exchange rate increased up to 4.45 LP.
May 13, 1981		A car bomb exploded in Chyah killing 6 and injuring 32 in addition to important material damages.
May 16, 1981		The Soviets and the Americans reinforced their military presence in the Mediterranean.
May 16, 1981		Washington advocated a fast resolution of the missile crisis to avoid a worsening of the situation. Beirut was hit by one bomb every three seconds. Twenty-seven persons were evacuated from Zahleh during a lull period.
May 17, 1981		Words were no longer enough to describe the horror of the war. How to describe the endless artillery duels, the depression of civilians buried in shelters, the magnitude of destructions? The guns didn't stop for 9 continuous hours on both sides of the dividing lines; 25 persons were killed and 118 wounded. What was at stake in this endless battle of Beirut?
May 18, 1981		While the civilian population continued to pay the high price of Man's madness, a Saudi solution plan was put into place. It stipulated the maintenance of SAM missiles in the Bekaa region, the progressive withdrawal of the Arab Strike Force from Lebanon, the limitation of Palestinian activities in the South and the reinforcement of the Lebanese central authority.
May 22, 1981		While the US envoy Philip Habib continued his trips between the different belligerents, the missile question seemed to be far from being settled as the parties concerned toughened their positions.
May 28, 1981		Following the departure of the American envoy, the Israeli aviation bombarded Palestinian bases in Damour causing hundred of dead or injured victims.
May 29, 1981		According to the American information service, 150 Libyan soldiers were in Lebanon for some time. Arafat declared that the Palestinian Resistance detained SAM missiles.
June 1, 1981		Blind bombardments hit the seaside resorts of Maameltein, Ouzaï and Manara. 18 people were killed and 270 were wounded.
June 1, 1981		According to a study by Maroun Baghdadi , more than 80 parties and political organizations were disputing the power or bits of the power in Lebanon. Among them organizations, committees, unions more or less homogeneous, more or less ephemerals, more or less clandestine; some were born with the war, others had disappeared because of it.
June 5, 1981		A generalized blaze of fire in Beirut and its suburbs kept spreading death.
June 8, 1981		The Arab Vigilance Committee, ending its meetings in Beiteddine, took note of all the parties' commitment to respect the cease-fire on the Lebanese territory. On the other hand, the Committee announced that it would meet again on June 23 in Saudi Arabia and on July 4 in Beiteddine.
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.