lebanese war
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1975/1990
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57 news for the 12th, 31st of every month

with the books

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August 31, 1975sunday
Despite the latest events, Demis Roussos sang in Beirut and put some balm on the hearts of the Lebanese people.

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February 12, 1976thursday
Banks reopened their doors after several months of paralysis

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August 12, 1976thursday
Tell El Zaatar assault and massacre
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.

January 12, 1977wednesday
The collection of heavy and light arms continued while the government was helping the victims of the war and trying to boost the economy.

\_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'.

May 12, 1978friday
Seiman Frangieh and Rachid Karameh reconciled under the auspices of the Syrian commander of the Arab Strike Force in Northern Lebanon.

\_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.

May 31, 1978wednesday
A Sarkis-Assad summit was held in Lattaquieh. They discussed the Israeli occupation of South Lebanon, the military cooperation between the two countries, and the difficulties encountered in the pacification process in Lebanon.

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July 31, 1978monday
Lebanese Army units were dispatched to South Lebanon.
They remained there until the end of the year. Christian militias supported by Israel in the South stopped their advance.

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Hanf writes that Major Haddad's forces fired at Kaukaba on the units sent south in early August, men of the 'vanguard' Syria trusted, and drove them into retreat. Haddad later rebelled openly against the army command, and Israel took over paying his men.

January 12, 1979friday
Members of the Commission of Justice requested the adoption of a law prohibiting the sale of lands to non-Lebanese. In the south, it seemed that many lands have been sold to non-Lebanese.

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February 12, 1979monday
Brian Urqhart, the assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, examined with Lebanese officials the modalities of the Army's deployment in the South next to the UNIFL Israel nevertheless rejected the program.

\_this day in full the books also date it 18 April 1979 \_on this day

May 31, 1979thursday
At the meeting of the Security Council, Lebanon claimed the reinforcement of the UNIFL. Moreover, Beirut requested the condemnation of Israel and the re-activation of the Armistice Commission.

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July 12, 1979thursday
Unrest spread in West Beirut where Shiite militiamen manifested their anger against the eventual visit to Beirut of Colonel Kadhafi. The Lebanese government cancelled, under pressure from both officials and Shiite masses, the visit of the Libyan president.

\_this day in full \_on this day

August 31, 1979friday
On the occasion of the first anniversary of the disappearance of Imam Moussa Sadr, a general strike paralyzed Beirut. For the first time Sheikh Mohammed Mehdi chamseddine accused the Libyans of his disappearance.

\_this day in full the books also date it 25 August 1978 \_on this day

September 12, 1979wednesday
The notables of Zghorta and Becharreh reconciled under the aegis of Patriarch Khoreiche. In a common declaration, the notables requested the deployment of the army in their region.

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November 12, 1979monday
The work document that Lebanon was going to present in Tunis, contained 6 main points: exercising pressure on the United States to end Israeli aggressions, freezing the actions of the Fedayin, laying the Lebanese authority in the South, banning any illegal armed presence, re-activating the Beiteddine Committee, and grouping guerillas in some specified zones.

\_this day in full the books also date it 20 November 1979 \_on this day

March 12, 1980wednesday
A car bomb exploded on the Dora-Nahr el Mott boulevard, a few seconds after the passage of Camille Chamouns' convoy.

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March 12, 1980wednesday
12 persons were killed due to the use of spoiled flower in the Akkar.

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April 12, 1980saturday
Saad Haddad militiamen attacked UNIFL soldiers. Bombings destroyed two United Nations helicopters in Nakoura.

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\_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.

May 31, 1980saturday
The Lebanese championship of athletics was held for the first time since 1975.

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July 12, 1980saturday
Civil airplanes were diverted to Rayak because of the strike that hit the Beirut International Airport. But traffic at the airport resumed on the following day.

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October 31, 1980friday
The Lebanese army evacuated Ain el Remmaneh and gathered on the Damascus road and on major Streets.

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\_what the books add

De Clerck and Malsagne date Lebanese Forces control of East Beirut to this day; Ménargues dates the final takeover of Ain el-Remmaneh to late November. See the note on 27 October.

December 31, 1980wednesday
A Syrian-Israeli air fight took place in the Lebanese sky. Damascus admited that its two Migs were hit and that two Israeli airplanes were shot down. Tel-Aviv denied this information.

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January 31, 1981saturday
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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April 12, 1981sunday
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.

\_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.

May 12, 1981tuesday
SAM missiles were launched against Israeli spy airplanes.

\_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.

May 12, 1981tuesday
The Lebanese stock exchange market panicked as the dollar's exchange rate increased up to 4.45 LP.

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January 12, 1982tuesday
During a meeting in presence of Chafic Wazzan, the Moslem conservatives rejected the ' self-security ' principle in West Beirut.

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\_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.

March 31, 1982wednesday
A new car bomb exploded next to the Abed clock killing 2 persons and wounding 4 others.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

De Clerck and Malsagne, drawing on Ronen Bergman, attribute to Ariel Sharon a series of car bombings from October 1981, carried out under the name 'Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners' and aimed chiefly at Palestinians, to provoke retaliation that could justify an invasion. They list no individual attacks, so this bombing cannot be matched to their account.

July 31, 1982saturday
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.

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August 31, 1982tuesday
As the Arab Strike force was achieving its withdrawal from Beirut, Israeli fighters shoot a Mig 25 over Antelias.

\_this day in full the books also date it 1 September 1982 \_on this day

September 12, 1982sunday
Two bloody confrontations opposed the Army and the I.S.F on one side, and the West Beirut organizations on the other.

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October 12, 1983wednesday
Political confusion, frequent violations of the cease-fire, alarming threats were as many elements that favored monetary speculation in Beirut. The dollar registered a spectacular increase against the Lebanese pound reaching 515 L.P.

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October 31, 1983monday
The dialog conference opened in Geneva. This national reconciliation conference represented the only hope for the Lebanese.

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\_what the books add

The conference sat from 31 October to 4 November (Picard has 1 to 8 November), with Syria's foreign minister Khaddam present and Prime Minister Wazzan kept out by a Syrian veto. Amine Gemayel chaired; Camille Chamoun and Pierre Gemayel spoke for the Lebanese Front, Frangieh, Jumblatt and Karami for the opposition, Saeb Salam for the Sunnis, Adel Osseiran for the Shi'is.

January 12, 1984thursday
One person was killed and many others were wounded in Achrafieh in a blind bombardment of residential areas. These bombings continued until July 4, causing thousands of deaths and injuries. Meanwhile, the dollar broke a new record in Beirut, reaching 5.55 LP.

\_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.

March 12, 1984monday
The Lausanne conference began and lasted until March 20. The observers considered it a camouflaged failure. The participants decided to execute a security plan, stop slanderous campaigns, create a constituent assembly, and resume the dialog under the patronage of the chief of State.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

Most sources give 12-20 March 1984. Picard's main text gives April 1984 and Fisk says 'spring of 1983'. Traboulsi's chronology lists Lausanne under 1983. Hanf says the conference agreed on a ceasefire and a commission on the constitution, which may be what 'constituent assembly' refers to. He also says Frangieh blocked any radical reorganisation.

June 12, 1984tuesday
While Lebanon was burying its dead, the Parliament voted the confidence by 53 votes against 15, and 3 abstentions. The Chamber extended its mandate for 2 years.

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July 12, 1984thursday
Violent confrontations opposed the Marada, President Frangieh's militia, to the Syrian Nationalist Party.

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October 31, 1984wednesday
The United Nations Secretary General, Javier Perez de Cuellar, convoked a Lebanese-Israeli conference to be held on November 5 in Nakoura under the aegis of the United Nations. The negotiations aimed at making security arrangements for the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.

\_this day in full \_on this day

January 12, 1985saturday
The army deployed on the coastal road South of Beirut and in the Iqlim EL Kharroub after the withdrawal of the Lebanese Forces and the PSP militiamen. The government appointed Edmond Naim Governor of the Central Bank, Michel Samaha CEO of Télé Liban, Mohammed Beydoun president of the Council of the South, and Ayoub Hemayed General Director of the Information.

\_this day in full the books also date it 9 January 1985 \_on this day

\_what the books add

De Clerck and Malsagne say Edmond Naim succeeded Michel el-Khoury at the Central Bank because both the militia chiefs and the unity cabinet could accept him.

March 12, 1985tuesday
The United States vetoed the adoption by the United Nations Security Council of a Lebanese resolution that condemns Israeli actions against civilians in South Lebanon.

\_this day in full \_on this day

July 31, 1985wednesday
President Sleiman Frangieh and Elie Hobeika were reconciled.

\_this day in full \_on this day

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