De Clerck and Malsagne and Tegho Bou Nassif date Zahleh's entry into the war to 24 August 1975, when Palestinian fighters planted a bomb in its tourist district, Wadi al-Arayish. In Hanf's account, Zahleh's Christians and Shi'is of its outskirts and nearby villages, helped by Palestinian guerrillas, came to blows late in August after a non-political arcade quarrel. Three Zahleh men were executed at the end of August.

Hanf has the Syrian army moving again only once Tal al-Za'tar had fallen, increasing pressure on the encircled Palestinian and leftist forces in the Upper Metn; these were expelled at the end of September.

Ratified by an Arab summit in Cairo on 25 October, the Riyadh decisions required all parties to surrender heavy weapons and the Palestinians to return to the zones granted by the 1969 Cairo Agreement, and created a 30,000-man Arab Deterrent Force under President Sarkis, its largest contingent by far, 25,000-27,000 men, being the Syrian troops already in Lebanon. Saudi Arabia had sent the invitations on 15 October; the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon met the PLO chairman in Riyadh on 16, 17 or 18 October, depending on the historian. The cease-fire's start is dated 16 October (Hanf), 21 October (Traboulsi) or 15 November (de Clerck and Malsagne).

Hanf writes that the Lebanese Front was left with an enclave of roughly a tenth of Lebanon once Syrian troops had moved into the northern Christian mountains, Koura, Batroun and the coast as far as the Madfoun bridge. Frangieh gave Kataeb members in the north until the month's end to give up their weapons and quit the party, or else leave.

The raid targeted PLO offices in the Fakhani district of West Beirut. Tolls differ: Ménargues gives 191 dead and over 730 wounded; Fisk and Picard about 300 dead; Hanf hundreds killed and over a thousand hurt, chiefly civilians.

About 300 people died in bombings from 17 September to 2 October 1981, which de Clerck and Malsagne, citing Israeli journalist Ronen Bergman, put down to the 'Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners', formed by Israeli officers against the Palestinians and their allies.

Hanf sets this fighting in a contest for Tripoli: with the local Sunni militia on their side, the Palestinians resisted Syria's bid to dominate the north.

Jawad Boulos was one of three 'wise men' in the leadership of the Christian Lebanese Front, with Fouad Ephrem Boustani and Charles Malek (Hanf).

On 17 May Antoine Fattal (Lebanon), David Kimche (Israel) and Morris Draper (US) signed in Arabic, French, English and Hebrew. The accord ended the state of war and made the south a security zone under joint supervision teams and a territorial brigade led by Saad Haddad. Letters exchanged by Israel and Washington tied Israel's withdrawal to Syria's, voiding the accord at birth in de Clerck and Malsagne's view. Picard places the signing at Naqoura.