72 news for the 12th, 26th of every month
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Islamic and leftist leaders rejected this Cabinet. The Lebanese considered it as a challenge. Karameh presented his candidature to form a new Government, in a climate of terror imposed by militias. Lootings, killings, and kidnappings continued.
\_this day in full the books also date it 28 May 1975 \_on this day
\_what the books add
The National Movement's call for a general strike, supported by the leading Sunni politicians, Mufti Hassan Khaled, Musa al-Sadr and Raymond Edde, brought down the military cabinet on 26 May; on 28 May Frangieh appointed Rashid Karami Prime Minister.
After a siege that lasted 52 days, the Tell El Zaatar Palestinian camp fell in the hands of the Lebanese Forces as a result of an ultimate assault launched at dawn. It was in total confusion that the 12000 camp residents were evacuated. In retaliation, kidnappings were reported in West Beirut. 2000 people died in fighting during the entire siege, and 4000 were wounded. The surviving cilvilians were settled by The PLO in other camps and in Damour.
\_this day in full the books also date it 4 January 1976, 13 August 1976 \_on this day
\_what the books add
Tal al-Za'tar fell on 12 August 1976 (13 August in Ménargues) after more than 70 assaults. Ménargues and Hanf count a siege of 52-53 days from the final offensive; de Clerck and Malsagne and Traboulsi count six months from the January blockade. An ICRC report cited by de Clerck and Malsagne puts the dead at about 2,500 residents and defenders and up to 800 attackers; many died trying to escape. The Tigers and the Guardians of the Cedar led the last assault, reportedly with Syrian and Israeli officers present. The camp was bulldozed and never rebuilt.
\_this day in full the books also date it 18 October 1976 \_on this day
\_what the books add
Under the Riyadh decisions of October 1976 all parties were to give up heavy weapons to the Arab Deterrent Force; the Hoss government set a 5 December 1976 deadline (Traboulsi). Fisk reports the militias did not hand them in; Hanf, that the Palestinians moved most of theirs south of the 'red line'.
\_this day in full the books also date it 11 May 1978 \_on this day
\_what the books add
De Clerck and Malsagne record that Frangieh had quit the Lebanese Front the day before over its ties with Israel. The reconciliation, Hanf notes, made the north a pro-Syrian bloc.
\_this day in full \_on this day
\_what the books add
Fisk adds that the Syrian shelling slackened around this time after sonic booms from a pair of Israeli jets flying low over West Beirut.
\_this day in full the books also date it 18 April 1979 \_on this day
\_this day in full the books also date it 20 November 1979 \_on this day
\_this day in full \_on this day
\_what the books add
Fisk: in the April 1980 fighting at At-Tiri, Haddad's gunmen killed Private Stephen Griffin of the Irish UNIFIL battalion and UN troops killed a militiaman, whose death two other Irish soldiers later paid for. The militia also held the coastal strip between the French unit and Naqoura and shot at helicopters.
\_this day in full the books also date it 10 April 1981 \_on this day
\_what the books add
Ménargues writes that Syrian special forces, landed by helicopter at dawn on 10 April, soon took the heights of Qalaat Aramta and Deir Charfé around Zahleh, leaving its defenders almost encircled.
\_this day in full the books also date it 14 May 1981 \_on this day
\_what the books add
Ménargues's run of drone losses begins on 14 May, when a Syrian SAM-6 downed an Israeli reconnaissance drone over the Bekaa; more were lost on 19, 22 (two) and 25 May.
\_this day in full \_on this day
\_what the books add
For Hanf, early 1982 showed Muslim opinion shifting: Beirut's old leaders and clergy closed ranks against the National Movement's district-council elections and outnumbered it on the streets in March.
\_this day in full the books also date it 24 May 1982 \_on this day
\_this day in full the books also date it 25 August 1982 \_on this day
\_what the books add
Ménargues has the Hittin brigade's 1,350 Palestine Liberation Army soldiers driving out to Damascus on 26 August, as Italian Bersaglieri of the San Marco regiment and more French legionnaires came ashore. Robert Fisk dates the first US Marine landing to 25 August; Ménargues to 27 August.
\_this day in full the books also date it 27 September 1982 \_on this day
\_this day in full \_on this day
\_what the books add
Hanf dates Amal's first fighting with the army to March 1983, after soldiers had arrested large numbers of Shi'is on dubious charges.
\_this day in full the books also date it 28 April 1983 \_on this day
\_what the books add
Ménargues dates the handover to 28 April 1983. Held in an army intelligence cell at the Defence Ministry in Yarze, Chartouni admitted the killing before the military prosecutor that day. The case was later handed by Amine Gemayel's cabinet to a constitutional High Court that had never been created; he was freed on 13 October 1990.
\_this day in full the books also date it 5 February 1984 \_on this day
\_this day in full \_on this day
\_what the books add
Sources differ on when the shelling stopped: the original entry has it continuing until the security plan of 4 July, while de Clerck and Malsagne date the systematic bombardment of Christian residential districts from the 17 May 1983 agreement to its abrogation on 5 March 1984.
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