lebanese war
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1975/1990
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April 15, 1975tuesday
A cease-fire was reached
After more than three days of anguish, with 120 deaths and many injuries, two suspects were handed over to the Justice. Beirut and its surroundings have been the theater of violent clashes between the Phalange Party and Palestinian militias. Also, Zghortiotes and Tripolitans fought in Tripoli. A cease-fire was declared at night and all parties reached an agreement, the execution of which was entrusted to the Internal Security Forces.

\_this day in full the books also date it 16 May 1975 \_on this day

\_what the books add

After several days of fighting (Hanf; four, says Traboulsi), Pierre Gemayel gave up to the police two militiamen implicated in the Ain al-Rummaneh shooting. Early Syrian mediation failed to stop this round, which de Clerck and Malsagne end with a cease-fire on 16 May 1975; no book confirms a truce on 15 April.

December 15, 1975monday
After a week of dreadful combats, the first phases of the 18th cease-fire agreement were executed with the evacuation of the towers and big hotels in the capital.

\_this day in full the books also date it 8 December 1975, 9 December 1975 \_on this day

\_what the books add

Hanf has the Murabitun, discreetly backed by the Palestinians, going on the offensive against the Kataeb downtown and around the hotels on 8 December and seizing the Phoenicia and St Georges. Traboulsi places an army attempt to retake the two hotels on 9 December.

March 15, 1976monday
Lieutenant Ahmed Khatib, chief of the ' Army of Arab Lebanon ', rejoined Ahdab's reformist movement. Barracks fell in the hands of protesters. 68 deputies signed a petition claiming the departure of Sleiman Frangieh who refused to leave his post, despite all the pressures against him.

\_this day in full the books also date it 11 March 1976, 13 March 1976 \_on this day

\_what the books add

The deputies' petition demanding Frangieh's resignation is dated 11 March in Traboulsi's chronology and 13 March by de Clerck and Malsagne; Picard and Traboulsi's chronology count 68 signatures out of 99, Traboulsi's narrative 69. On 15 March Syrian-controlled PLA and Saiqa units halted a march on the Baabda palace by the Lebanese Arab Army and al-Ahdab's followers. Within days Khatib's force grew to a few thousand men and held most of the army's heavy weapons.

April 15, 1976thursday
Despite the extension of the truce, several fronts were set ablaze, including those in Beirut.
A new agreement, called the Damascus Agreement, was likely to be applied in the next 48 hours. Syrian and Resistance leaders had signed it. The agreement stipulated ending hostilities, reactivating the 'Supreme Military Committee', refusing the partition of Lebanon, rejecting American arrangements and plans in Lebanon, continuing the Syrian initiative and refusing the internationalization or the 'Arabization' of the Lebanese crisis. Also, an agreement had been reached stipulating the withdrawal of Syrian troops that entered the Bekaa region on April 10, back to the Masnaa borderline.

\_this day in full the books also date it 9 April 1976, 11 April 1976 \_on this day

\_what the books add

Traboulsi's chronology puts the Syrian-PLO accord to restore order in Beirut on 11 April. Around 9 April Syrian army tanks entered the Bekaa at Anjar, Judaydat Yabus and Bayadir al-Adas (Traboulsi), some forty in all according to Yara El Khoury, as Saiqa fighters set about ending the siege of Zahleh.

June 15, 1976tuesday
The Lebanese Front approved the application of the solutions of the sub-summit, concerning the dispatch, to Lebanon, of a peace force including Libyan, Algerian, Syrian, Sudanese, Saudi, and Palestinian contingents.

\_this day in full the books also date it 9 June 1976 \_on this day

\_what the books add

Picard (2016) dates to 9 June 1976 the Arab League Council resolution, taken in Cairo, that created an Arab peace force. Hanf has some 2,000 Sudanese arriving first, then Libyans; Picard (2002) says Tripoli sent 500 men in June.

September 15, 1976wednesday
One week before the expiry of his mandate, President Frangieh carried out a spectacular government reshuffling. Rachid Karameh was appointed Prime Minister, Minister of Agriculture, Tourism, Housing, and Cooperatives; Camille Chamoun vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Interior, Foreign Affairs, and National Defense; Addel Osseirane Minister of Justice, National Education, and Plan; Magid Arslane Minister of Public Works, Transportation, Hydraulic and Electric Resources, and Health; Ghassan Tueini Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Information, Industry and Oil; and Georges Skaff Minister of Finance, Economy and Trade, and Posts and Telecommunications.

\_this day in full \_on this day

November 15, 1976monday
Phase 2 of the peace plan started.
The Arab Strike Force including mainly Syrians started to advance on various axes leading to the heart of the capital, as well as the Chouf, the Kesrouan, and Jbeil. 8,000 infantrymen and 250 armored vehicles converged towards the districts of Beirut and the front line.

\_this day in full the books also date it 14 November 1976, 16 November 1976 \_on this day

\_what the books add

Hanf puts the entry of about 6,000 Syrian soldiers, in the peace force's green helmets, into East and West Beirut on 14 November. Fisk's report in The Times of 16 November dated their occupation of the whole city to the previous morning, with 6,000 men and hundreds of tanks; the last firing, near the port, ended on 16 November, Fisk recounts.

June 15, 1977wednesday
Charles Aznavour was the first star to come to Lebanon during the war. He sang in Byblos in front of a Lebanese audience trying to forget the nightmare of the last two years.

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November 15, 1977tuesday
The performance of Joe Dassin at the Casino du Liban conquered the Lebanese.

\_this day in full \_on this day

March 15, 1978wednesday
According to a report issued by the Ministry of Finance, the losses in the public sector were estimated at 7.5 billion Lebanese Pounds.

\_this day in full \_on this day

May 15, 1979tuesday
The Phalange Party and the LNP merged under the sign of cooperation with the State.

\_this day in full the books also date it 12 May 1979 \_on this day

\_what the books add

De Clerck and Malsagne date the start of the fighting between Kataeb and National Liberal Party militias to 12 May 1979, at Furn el-Chebbak; clashes recurred in various places until July 1980.

September 15, 1979saturday
Several hundreds of women gathered at the Arts and Crafts garden and head towards the office of the Prime Minister. Most of them were originally from the South and they were claiming peace.

\_this day in full \_on this day

April 15, 1980tuesday
An important Shiite demonstration was organized in Ghobeire to protest against the disappearance of Imam Mohammed Baker el Sadr, arrested in Iraq. Armed elements fired on the cortege, killing one person and injuring 6 others.

\_this day in full \_on this day

May 15, 1980thursday
Following artillery duels between the Lebanese Forces and the Syrian National Social Party in the Upper-Metn, an army buffer force deployed in the region.

\_this day in full \_on this day

June 15, 1980sunday
Violent confrontations between the Army of Arab Lebanon and Amal were reported in the Bekaa region. The Arab Strike Force evacuated Ahmed Khatib, who was isolated in Nabi Chit.

\_this day in full \_on this day

September 15, 1981tuesday
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.

\_this day in full \_on this day

December 15, 1981tuesday
A bomb attack destroyed the Iraqi embassy. 20 persons were killed including the ambassador and 100 were wounded.

\_this day in full the books also date it 16 December 1981 \_on this day

\_what the books add

Ménargues dates the bombing to 16 December. The six-storey embassy at Ramlet al-Baida was destroyed by an explosives-laden car driven by Shiite suicide attackers; a group nobody knew claimed it, and the ambassador's body took four days to find. It followed heavy fighting in West Beirut on 4 December between Amal and pro-Iraqi Baathists, and a Lebanese Forces visit to Baghdad.

April 15, 1982thursday
Two employees of the French consulate were assassinated in their apartment in Beirut.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

The victims were Guy Cavallo, the French military attaché's cipher clerk, and his wife, murdered at their West Beirut home.

September 15, 1982wednesday
Bechir Gemayel's funerals in Bickfaya united the whole country. A national mourning was announced for one week. All Lebanese parties denounced the criminal act that killed the future President of the Republic who was the advocate of a Lebanese identity and of the necessity of reaching a national understanding.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

In Ménargues's account of the Bikfaya funeral, Bashir's coffin was carried from the church of Mar Abda onto a gun carriage before the entire government, the diplomatic corps and every deputy, even those who had boycotted his election. Israeli troops had entered West Beirut at 5 a.m. that day, breaching the agreement negotiated by Philip Habib.

October 15, 1982friday
The killing attempts continued against Israeli soldiers. A car bomb exploded in Bhamdoun killing 3 persons, of which two were Israeli, and injuring 10 others.

\_this day in full \_on this day

January 15, 1983saturday
The combats intensified in the mountain between the Lebanese Forces and the Progressive Socialist Party. Bombs fell in Broumana and close to Moukhtara.

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February 15, 1983tuesday
The Armenian Community in Lebanon gave a grandiose and emotional official farewell to its Patriarch H.S. Khoren 1st Catholicos of the house of Cilicie, dead at the age of 69.

\_this day in full \_on this day

December 15, 1983thursday
2500 Lebanese Forces fighters were evacuated from Deir El Kamar.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

On 15 December, after 102 days, the siege of Deir el-Qamar ended. Israel brokered the departure of Samir Geagea's Lebanese Forces and most refugees for East Beirut; the town was left mainly to its elderly.

January 15, 1984sunday
Ships from the sixth US fleet were positioned off Beirut. They were retaliating to the bombing of Marines' headquarters in the capital.

\_this day in full the books also date it 9 January 1984 \_on this day

February 15, 1984wednesday
Mechref and Damour fell under the control of the PSP, while violent combats raged around Souk El Gharb, the last obstacle in the mountain.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

Hanf counts some 15,000 Christian civilians leaving the coastal Chouf for Israeli-occupied territory; Mechref is not named.

September 15, 1984saturday
The participants in a round-table on Lebanon held in Lausane concluded that '15 billion dollars spread out on 10 years were needed for the reconstruction of Lebanon.' An international association comprising important persons from the world of economics and finance organized this meeting.

\_this day in full \_on this day

December 15, 1984saturday
The Army's deployment plan between Madfoun and the Awali river as well as in the Iqlim El Kharroub was finally executed. The entire population went on strike in South Lebanon to protest against the military operation of December 13.

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

\_what the books add

Hanf dates the army's advance into the Sidon region to 9 January 1985, as Israel began pulling back. Some of the 15 December deployment may have been north of the Awali, which he does not detail. The southern strike is not in the books.

January 15, 1986wednesday
In eight hours of violent fights, 100 persons were killed, and the chief of staff of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, evinced Elie Hobeika sending him into exile.

\_this day in full the books also date it 12 March 1986 \_on this day

\_what the books add

Historians date Geagea's takeover to 15 January 1986 (de Clerck and Malsagne; Picard's chronology dates Gemayel's rejection of the accord to the same day). Traboulsi's narrative gives 12 March 1986 instead. De Clerck and Malsagne put the dead at about 800, far above the 100 given here. Hobeika was flown out by army helicopter after an army mediation backed by the patriarch, was briefly exiled in France, then settled in Zahle under Syrian protection.

May 15, 1986thursday
A general strike was observed in universities and schools in West Beirut, to protest against repeated aggressions against teachers.

\_this day in full \_on this day

February 15, 1987sunday
A vast military confrontation between Amal and the PSP erupted in West Beirut. It was a prelude to the entrance of 12,000 Syrian soldiers in this region. However, they didn't deploy in the Southern suburbs.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

Hanf has the PSP and its leftist allies overrunning Amal's Murr Tower headquarters and taking Hamra after five days of what he calls West Beirut's worst fighting, its destruction on the scale of the 1982 siege. The size of the Syrian force differs by source: 12,000 soldiers plus Special Forces (de Clerck and Malsagne), 8,000 (Quéméner), two brigades (Hanf), the re-formed 85th Brigade (Fisk). The troops entered on 22 February according to most sources (see addition 1987-02-22).

June 15, 1989thursday
Electricity, fuel, and flour are the daily preoccupation of Lebanese. Once again, the power plant of Zouk announces that it cannot supply power more than 2 hours a day.

\_this day in full \_on this day

September 15, 1989friday
The UN delivers a 200,000 dollars check to the human organization 'Save the Children' in favor of war victims in Lebanon.

\_this day in full \_on this day

October 15, 1989sunday
October 15, 16, 17, 18
In Taef, an agreement on the reforms was practically reached after few days of uncertainty. The only subject that had not been brought up was the withdrawal of the Syrian troops from the Lebanese territories.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

Hanf: Prince Saud al-Faisal's two meetings with Assad yielded only marginal concessions, 108 seats instead of 128 and a phrase on each country's sovereignty. Christian deputies, led by Joseph Skaff of Zahle, sought firmer withdrawal terms, but the troika had settled the Syrian clauses with Damascus in advance; they were not negotiable.

February 15, 1990thursday
Despite Mgr Sfeir's pathetic call, a blaze of fire hits the 'Christian country'. The army takes control of Ain el Remmaneh.

\_this day in full the books also date it 11 February 1990, 16 February 1990 \_on this day

\_what the books add

Hanf: after the army took Ain al-Rummaneh on 16 February 1990, having attacked the eastern suburbs on the 11th, the Lebanese Forces fell back to Ashrafieh through West Beirut. A Reuters reporter with the troops said it was 'like an earthquake had hit it'.

July 15, 1990sunday
Lakhdar Ibrahimi met, for the first time since the Taef agreement, with General Michel Aoun, after having conferred with Presidents Hraoui, Husseini and Hoss. Later on, he met with the chief of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea.

\_this day in full the books also date it 11 July 1990 \_on this day

\_what the books add

Aoun answered Ibrahimi's offer of a national unity cabinet including himself and Geagea with conditions of his own: a stronger president, no appointed deputies, and the militias dissolved and elections held before the Taif amendments were ratified. Hanf counts at least four meetings between the two in summer 1990; Ibrahimi confessed he could not tell what Aoun wanted.

October 15, 1990monday
President Mitterand affirms the he will not hand over General Aoun, arguing that 'It is a question of honor'.

\_this day in full the books also date it 13 October 1990, 29 August 1991 \_on this day

\_what the books add

Mitterrand called asylum for Aoun 'a matter of honour' and France granted it, but Beirut refused to let him go; he stayed in the French embassy until taken to France on 29 August 1991.

November 15, 1990thursday
The electric power is redistributed progressively in various Lebanese regions.

\_this day in full \_on this day