| Lebanese war chronology - 1981 | > back to chronology | |||||
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January 3, 1981 satruday |
After its withdrawal from Ain El Remmaneh on October 31, 1980 the Army repositioned on the main road axes in the region. |
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January 5, 1981 monday |
Militiamen led by the dissident officer Saad Haddad bombarded the locality of Hasbaya, causing important damages. |
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January 5, 1981 monday |
Michel Rocard, member of the French Socialist Party's national secretariat met with President Elias Sarkis, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Chafic Wazzan, as well as with the PLO leader, Yasser Arafat. |
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January 8, 1981 thursday |
The Arab Strike Force withdrew from Zahleh. |
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January 9, 1981 friday |
A new phase of the war started in Lebanon: the war of televisions. The 'Lebanese Forces' wanted to broadcast under the name 'Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation' and the Mourabitun seemed to be willing to give them hard time. As a result, they both emitted on the same channel and thus jammed the image. |
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January 18, 1981 sunday |
Jean Francois Revel, the director of the French weekly magazine L'Express, left Beirut after a 48-hour visit. He declared before his departure: 'The actual drama in Lebanon is the result of the convergence of external factors rather than an internal crisis'. |
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January 19, 1981 monday |
Three blue helmets of the UNIFL were assassinated East of Tyr. |
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January 21, 1981 wednesday |
20,000 displaced persons from Damour participated in a peaceful walk towards the presidential palace to claim their return home. |
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January 23, 1981 friday |
Combats were raging between militiamen from the Amal movement and the Popular Palestinian Liberation Front (PPLF) in Chyah. |
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January 28, 1981 wednesday |
President Elias Sarkis delivered a speech at the Third Islamic States Summit in Taef, where he headed the Lebanese delegation. He declared: 'Lebanon cannot bear anymore the Palestinian armed presence on its land'. |
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January 29, 1981 thursday |
The Israeli aviation bombarded Saida and Nabatyeh for two days. An artillery duel opposed the 'Common Forces' to the militiamen of Saad Haddad. These Israeli bombardments killed 14 and injured 30 others. |
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January 31, 1981 satruday |
A violent storm hit Lebanon. 50 cars were totally stuck between Sofar and Mdeirej and their occupants spent the night in their vehicles. The Army was able to rescue 200 persons in the mountain. |
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February 4, 1981 wednesday |
Four Lebanese militaries were killed in a helicopter accident. The Aircraft crashed on the hills of Sannine. |
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February 13, 1981 friday |
The kidnapping on February 6 in Beirut of the chargé d'affaires of Jordan in Lebanon, remained at the center of preoccupation of the country's leaders. They adopted a series of security measures for the protection of embassies. |
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February 13, 1981 friday |
A Syrian-Israeli air duel took place in the sky of the Bekaa region. |
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February 14, 1981 satruday |
Snipers paralyzed the circulation in Sodeco, the main road connecting East and West Beirut. |
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February 18, 1981 wednesday |
The Council of Ministers centered part of its deliberations to the Sodeco region that was catching fire on a daily basis. Chafic Wazzan pledged to cease the fire. |
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February 19, 1981 thursday |
His Beatitude Bishop Maximos V Hakim escaped a killing attempt on the road of Bhamdoun. The aggressors' identity was unknown. |
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February 24, 1981 tuesday |
Shells from different calibers fell on the Eastern residential neighborhoods, spreading destruction, fires, and terror. The population wondered why these blind bombardments were perpetrated and until when would they continue. |
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March 1, 1981 sunday |
The city of Saida went through a day of fear and anguish after four bombs fell in its busiest streets, and especially after Saad Haddad threatened to bomb the city. The next day, the fighting spread to Southern Lebanon. |
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March 6, 1981 friday |
A TNT load exploded in Zahleh inside a travel agency, killing three persons and injuring 28 others. |
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March 10, 1981 tuesday |
The convoy of the United States ambassador in Lebanon skimmed automatic arm shots in the port's sector. |
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March 13, 1981 friday |
A Lebanese Army unit positioned in the Kantara locality following an agreement with the UNIFL commandant. On March 15, 50 soldiers deployed in the village of Chaqra. However, Saad Haddad was opposed to the reinforcement of the Army in the South. |
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March 16, 1981 monday |
Israel retorted at the Lebanese decision to send the Army to the frontier region by bombarding the UNIFL. The United Nations Secretary General, Kurt Waldheim was outraged and requested an urgent Security Council meeting. |
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March 17, 1981 tuesday |
After the last bombardments in Southern Lebanon, the Army pulled back 15 km away from Kantara but redeployed again on March 20. |
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March 20, 1981 friday |
The United Nations Security Council condemned Saad Haddad without mentioning Israel. |
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March 23, 1981 monday |
Violent confrontations burst in Baalbeck between Amal and the Iraqi Baas. |
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March 28, 1981 satruday |
After Sodeco and Berjaoui, the confrontations spread to the Museum sector. The Syrians imposed a cease-fire and tried to compel militiamen to withdraw from Ras El Nabeh. |
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April 2, 1981 thursday |
The Lebanese will remember this date for long time. Violence brought back to Beirut the darkest experiences of 1975-1976. Blind bombardments targeted the Eastern and Western sectors of the capital. Thousands of students were trapped in their schools and the population panicked. There were heavy casualties: 50 persons died and more than 200 were wounded. |
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April 4, 1981 satruday |
An intensive bombardment in Zahleh killed 20 and injured 100. |
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April 7, 1981 tuesday |
The Arab Strike Force maintained it pressure on Zahleh by bombarding it for the seventh consecutive day. |
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April 8, 1981 wednesday |
A shell storm fell on East Beirut particularly in Badaro, Ain El Remmaneh and Chyah. Several bombs hit H™tel-Dieu leaving important damages. |
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April 9, 1981 thursday |
For the first time in Zahleh since the beginning of the confrontations, the Red Cross was able to evacuate 19 persons seriously injured. |
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April 10, 1981 friday |
During his meeting in Strasbourg, the European Parliament called for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Lebanon, except for the UNIFL. |
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April 10, 1981 friday |
Israel bombarded Delhamiye and Arab Salim killing 16 persons. |
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April 12, 1981 sunday |
Following several days of violent confrontations with the Phalange militia, the Arab Strike Force completed its occupation of the most strategic hills of Zahleh. The supply channels between the capital of the Bekaa and Mount Lebanon were closed. |
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April 20, 1981 monday |
The situation was worsening in Lebanon. Violence unleashed in the South where artillery duels and air raids on Nabatyeh and Saida killed 16 and injured 33. Sporadic bombardments shred the silence in Zahleh. East Beirut was violently shelled and bombings spread to Nahr El Kalb causing five deaths and 32 wounded. |
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April 22, 1981 wednesday |
The nightmare continued. The Lebanese authorities were completely powerless to stop the violence and the conflicting parties were unable to reach an agreement. The Beirut International Airport was closed to traffic and both dead and wounded victims continued to shed their blood on this agonizing Lebanese land. |
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April 27, 1981 monday |
Residential areas in Beirut were the target of sporadic bombardments that killed six persons and injured 90 others. |
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April 28, 1981 tuesday |
While the Syrian Foreign Affairs Minister, Abdel Halim Khaddam met with President Chamoun, Pierre Gemayel and members of the Islamic Union at the Baabda palace, Israeli airplanes bombed new positions occupied by the Syrian Army on Mount Sannine's peak. The Israeli forces shot down two Syrian helicopters. |
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May 5, 1981 tuesday |
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. |
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May 7, 1981 thursday |
About 7,000 reinforcement Syrian troops were dispatched to the Bekaa region, to prepare against an eventual Israeli offensive. |
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May 8, 1981 friday |
The American envoy Philip Habib began his talks at the Baabda Palace. |
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May 9, 1981 satruday |
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. |
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May 11, 1981 monday |
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. |
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May 12, 1981 tuesday |
SAM missiles were launched against Israeli spy airplanes. |
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May 12, 1981 tuesday |
The Lebanese stock exchange market panicked as the dollar's exchange rate increased up to 4.45 LP. |
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May 13, 1981 wednesday |
A car bomb exploded in Chyah killing 6 and injuring 32 in addition to important material damages. |
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May 16, 1981 satruday |
The Soviets and the Americans reinforced their military presence in the Mediterranean. |
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May 16, 1981 satruday |
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. |
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May 17, 1981 sunday |
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? |
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May 18, 1981 monday |
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. |
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May 22, 1981 friday |
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. |
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May 28, 1981 thursday |
Following the departure of the American envoy, the Israeli aviation bombarded Palestinian bases in Damour causing hundred of dead or injured victims. |
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May 29, 1981 friday |
According to the American information service, 150 Libyan soldiers were in Lebanon for some time. Arafat declared that the Palestinian Resistance detained SAM missiles. |
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June 1, 1981 monday |
Blind bombardments hit the seaside resorts of Maameltein, Ouzaï and Manara. 18 people were killed and 270 were wounded. |
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June 1, 1981 monday |
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. |
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June 5, 1981 friday |
A generalized blaze of fire in Beirut and its suburbs kept spreading death. |
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June 8, 1981 monday |
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. |
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June 9, 1981 tuesday |
The American envoy Philip Habib began a new round of visits in the region. |
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June 23, 1981 tuesday |
While sporadic combats continued between the Army and the Arab Strike Force in Beirut, the city of Zahleh was under heavy bombardment. |
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June 23, 1981 tuesday |
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. |
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June 30, 1981 tuesday |
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. |
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July 2, 1981 thursday |
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. |
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July 4, 1981 satruday |
The Arab Foreign Affairs Ministers met in Beiteddine. However, no concrete measure was taken, it was a total impasse. |
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July 8, 1981 wednesday |
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. |
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July 10, 1981 friday |
In retaliation to an air raid launched by Israel in Southern Lebanon, the Palestinians bombarded Kyriat Shmona injuring 14 Israelis. |
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July 16, 1981 thursday |
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. |
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July 17, 1981 friday |
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. |
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July 21, 1981 tuesday |
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. |
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July 24, 1981 friday |
Philip Habib finally succeeded in his mission. A cease-fire was reached and accepted by both the Israelis and the Palestinians. |
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July 27, 1981 monday |
The EDL started an electricity rationing program. There was a bad shortage of fuel due to the Israeli bombardment of the Zahrani oil refinery. |
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July 29, 1981 wednesday |
An air combat in which a Syrian MIG was shut down by Israeli Phantoms broke the precarious calm in Lebanon. |
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August 5, 1981 wednesday |
Violence surged in Tripoli. Bloody combats between the local militias continued in Tripoli claiming 20 dead and 40 injured. |
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August 13, 1981 thursday |
The escalation of violence resumed in the capital while the country was entering a phase of political stagnation. |
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August 16, 1981 sunday |
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. |
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August 17, 1981 monday |
20 persons were killed and 100 injured in the confrontations between the Amal movement and the Lebanese Communist Party in Chyah. |
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August 17, 1981 monday |
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'. |
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August 18, 1981 tuesday |
The baccalaureate exams were organized in a calm atmosphere. |
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August 21, 1981 friday |
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. |
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August 30, 1981 sunday |
The Internal Security Forces destroyed the illegal constructions in Ouzaï. |
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August 30, 1981 sunday |
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'. |
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September 3, 1981 thursday |
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. |
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September 4, 1981 friday |
The French ambassador, Louis Delamare, was cowardly assassinated 100 meters away from the Résidence des Pins. |
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September 5, 1981 satruday |
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. |
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September 11, 1981 friday |
The Museum roadway was officially reopened after several days of shilly-shallying. |
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September 15, 1981 tuesday |
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. |
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September 17, 1981 thursday |
Two explosive attacks killed 29 persons and injured 116 in Chekka and Saida. Terrorism spread its tentacles to the entire country. |
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September 18, 1981 friday |
The nightmare continued. A car bomb exploded in Hay Soulloum killing three persons. |
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September 20, 1981 sunday |
A bomb inside a theatre in Mazraa killed 4 and injured 27. |
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September 21, 1981 monday |
A car bomb in Hamra and an attack in Tripoli proved that horror was still haunting Lebanon. It seemed that it would never end. |
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September 28, 1981 monday |
Terrorism continued to spread in Lebanon. A car bomb exploded at Zrariyeh in the South killing 15 persons and injuring 50 others. |
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October 1, 1981 thursday |
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. |
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October 18, 1981 sunday |
The price of fuel increased by 36% and that of oil by 57%, which lead to shortages and a general increase of all prices. |
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October 26, 1981 monday |
Terrorism hit once again. 20 persons were injured in a car explosion in Sin el Fil. |
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November 2, 1981 monday |
The Arab Strike Force launched a security operation in the West of the capital where Palestinian, Libyan and Iranian influence multiplied lately. |
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November 20, 1981 friday |
Habib was expected to undertake a new mission in order to prevent a new round of hostilities in Lebanon. |
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November 24, 1981 tuesday |
A Lebanese delegation attended the Fez Summit, marked by a resounding failure. |
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November 27, 1981 friday |
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. |
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November 30, 1981 monday |
The Arab Strike Force conducted a spectacular raid in West Beirut. Hundreds of persons were arrested and taken to a barrack for questioning. |
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December 5, 1981 satruday |
The residential areas were again bombarded with heavy artillery. |
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December 7, 1981 monday |
A Sadrist commando hijacked a Libyan airplane at the Beirut International Airport. The air pirates who held 43 hostages, injured a passenger and threatened to execute him in order to have the plane refueled. The aggressors called upon Khadafi to liberate the Imam. |
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December 10, 1981 thursday |
Terrorism stroke in Tripoli where an attack caused 12 dead and 75 injured. |
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December 15, 1981 tuesday |
A bomb attack destroyed the Iraqi embassy. 20 persons were killed including the ambassador and 100 were wounded. |
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December 19, 1981 satruday |
The explosion of a car bomb at the Unesco killed 16 persons and injured 18. |
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