lebanese war
chronology
1975/1990
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January 27, 1975monday
After stormy debates and demonstrations, most schools reopened their doors.

\_this day in full \_on this day

October 27, 1975monday
The Murr tower was occupied by the Mourabitun, and the Holliday Inn-Phoenicia region was held by the Phalange Party.

\_this day in full the books also date it 20 October 1975 \_on this day

\_what the books add

Begun in late October 1975 (20 October in de Clerck and Malsagne's chronology), the Battle of the Hotels ran for five months, ending when the Holiday Inn fell on 20-22 March 1976. Traboulsi links its launch to Black Saturday in December.

May 27, 1976thursday
Linda Joumblatt, Kamal Joumblatt's 55 years old sister, was cowardly assassinated in her home in Beirut. A group of armed men broke into her apartment and opened fire on her. She was killed while her daughters Nouha, 28 years old, and Samar, 18 years old were injured.

\_this day in full the books also date it 2 June 1976 \_on this day

\_what the books add

On 2 June Bashir Gemayel, having asked for a secret meeting with Kamal Jumblatt, offered him condolences and information on who had killed her. Traboulsi names her Linda al-Atrash and puts her apartment in East Beirut.

June 27, 1976sunday
The Beirut International Airport was heavily bombed. An MEA Boeing 707 caught fire on the runway. The airplane's pilot died in the accident.

\_this day in full \_on this day

June 27, 1976sunday
The Phalange Party, the NLP, and the Guardians of the Cedar launched the 'Camps Battle'.

\_this day in full the books also date it 22 June 1976 \_on this day

\_what the books add

Yara El Khoury dates the start of the final offensive on Jisr al-Basha and Tal al-Za'tar to 22 June 1976, and Hanf's account (Jisr al-Basha stormed eight days after the first assault, on 1 July) points to the same week. The camps had been blockaded since January. Hanf says Chamoun's Tigers and Christian units of the army led the attack, the Kataeb joining later; a joint command of Bashir Gemayel (Kataeb), Dany Chamoun and Nabil Karam (NLP), Fawzi Mahfouz (Tanzim) and Etienne Saqr (Guardians of the Cedar) coordinated it (de Clerck and Malsagne).

March 27, 1977sunday
The Arab League decided to renew the mandate of the Arab Strike Force for another six months.

\_this day in full the books also date it 18 October 1976 \_on this day

\_what the books add

The force is usually called the Arab Deterrent Force (ADF) in English.

March 27, 1977sunday
A powerful plastic charge, deposited in the elevator of the Minister of Defense, Fouad Boutros, exploded destroying the upper floor of the apartment.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

The bombing came the evening the government chose a new army commander, a change arranged by Boutros, who held foreign affairs and defence, and regarded by the Christian parties as cause for war.

August 27, 1977saturday
Although the collection of heavy arms was achieved, the Lebanese Front issued a press release, following the Ehden conference, emphasizing ' the necessity of spreading out Palestinians residing in Lebanon over the countries belonging to the Arab League.'

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

Hanf records that Damascus rejected the Lebanese Front's demands of May 1977: annulment of the Cairo Agreement and dispersal among other Arab states of the 200,000 Palestinians its leaders regarded as illegal entrants.

February 27, 1978monday
Diverse shows were scheduled in Lebanon. 'We Belnesba la bokra chou?' by Ziad Rahbani was a triumph at the Orly Theater.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

De Clerck and Malsagne and Haugbolle list this 1978 play first among Ziad Rahbani's comedies, which satirised the war from West Beirut.

March 27, 1978monday
' The 'National parliamentary gathering', a Shiite block, was created under the presidency of Kamel El Assaad.

\_this day in full \_on this day

June 27, 1979wednesday
Syrians and Israelis faced each other in the sky of Damour. Four Syrian Migs were shut down. At the Southern border, shelling continued between Progressive Palestinians on one side and the militia of Saad Haddad and Israel on the other.

\_this day in full \_on this day

October 27, 1979saturday
A car bomb exploded in basta, next to the office of the Army of Arabic Lebanon provoking 8 deaths and 32 injuries. The attack was followed by a strike in West Beirut.

\_this day in full the books also date it 22 April 1979 \_on this day

May 27, 1980tuesday
Violent confrontations burst between Shiite militiamen from Amal and a coalition including the Communist Party and the Resistance. The confrontations lasted three days, claiming a big number of victims. The Arab Strike Force mediated between the belligerent parties. A normalization and demilitarization agreement was signed in Damascus with the participation of the PLO.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

De Clerck and Malsagne list Amal's opponents once Nabih Berri led it, from 1980: the Communist Party, the Communist Action Organisation, the Iraqi Baath, Fatah and the Army of Arab Lebanon. Traboulsi notes frequent fighting between Amal and the Palestinian groups and National Movement up to June 1982.

August 27, 1980wednesday
The US ambassador, John Gunther Dean, escaped from a killing attempt in Hazmieh. Killers shot his armored car.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

Ménargues: the attack was claimed by telephone to Reuters by an unheard-of 'Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners'. Investigators found the discarded tube of a US-made LAW anti-tank rocket, a type Israel says it passed to the Christian militias in 1976. Bashir Gemayel's own inquiry blamed the National Liberal (Ahrar) leader Elias Hannouche, whose aim was to discredit the Lebanese Forces.

October 27, 1980monday
The Phalange Party and the NLP fought in Ain el Remmaneh. Camille Chamoun threatened to withdraw from the Lebanese Front.

\_this day in full the books also date it 31 October 1980, 28 November 1980 \_on this day

\_what the books add

The National Liberal holdouts in Ain el-Remmaneh were led by Elias Hannouche ('Hannache'). Hanf and de Clerck and Malsagne place the end of their autonomy in late October 1980 (de Clerck: Lebanese Forces in control of East Beirut on 31 October); Ménargues dates the decisive Lebanese Forces assault to the second half of November. There may have been two rounds.

April 27, 1981monday
Residential areas in Beirut were the target of sporadic bombardments that killed six persons and injured 90 others.

\_this day in full \_on this day

July 27, 1981monday
The EDL started an electricity rationing program. There was a bad shortage of fuel due to the Israeli bombardment of the Zahrani oil refinery.

\_this day in full \_on this day

November 27, 1981friday
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.

\_this day in full \_on this day

February 27, 1982saturday
The explosion of a car bomb killed 4 persons and wounded 26 others in Ouzaï.

\_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.

April 27, 1982tuesday
The minimum wage was raised to 925 Lebanese Pounds.

\_this day in full \_on this day

July 27, 1982tuesday
On the eve of the return to Beirut of the US envoy, and the opening of the conference of the Arab Committee, Israel bombed West Beirut. The Palestinian forces retorted by shelling East Beirut. 112 deaths and 232 injuries were reported so far.

\_this day in full the books also date it 26 July 1982 \_on this day

\_what the books add

Among the targets on 27 July was an apartment building on Iskandar Street where, according to Robert Fisk, almost a hundred people were killed.

June 27, 1983monday
Violent combats were raging in the region of Mansouriet-Bhamdoun between the Lebanese Forces and the PSP militia. The bombs reached the Northern Metn.

\_this day in full \_on this day

June 27, 1984wednesday
The Israeli aviation and navy bombed the Rabbits Island off Tripoli. 15 fishermen were injured.

\_this day in full \_on this day

June 27, 1985thursday
Elias Sarkis, former President of the Lebanese Republic, died at 61 years old. He was suffering from a disease that paralyzed his lymphatic and nervous system. Grandiose funerals were organized in Mar Takla church in Hazmieh.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

Elias Sarkis died in Paris (de Clerck and Malsagne).

August 27, 1985tuesday
Tens of persons were kidnapped at crossing points. Amal and the Lebanese Forces exchanged 22 hostages on August 29.

\_this day in full \_on this day

March 27, 1986thursday
After the Fatah claimed responsibility for the Katioucha shots on Kiryat Shmona, the Israeli aviation attacked the camps of Mieh Mieh and Ain El Heloueh. Ten persons were killed and 30 others were wounded.

\_this day in full \_on this day

September 27, 1986saturday
500 fighters led by Elie Hobeika entered Achrafieh where they fought ferociously with Geagea's men. The Lebanese Forces and the army rebuffed the infiltration. 65 persons lost their lives in the operation while 200 others were wounded.

\_this day in full the books also date it 26 September 1986, 29 September 1986 \_on this day

\_what the books add

Dates differ: 27 September (de Clerck and Malsagne), 29 September (Hanf), or by 26 September (Ménargues). Hanf has the Lebanese army halting an attack launched across the green line from West Beirut, after which former comrades killed a few hundred of Hobeika's men.

July 27, 1987monday
The Israeli attack against the APL (Maarouf Saad's Forces in Saida ) kills 7 persons and wounds 3.

\_this day in full \_on this day

November 27, 1987friday
November seems to end with a sign of hope for the hostages in Lebanon. Jean-Louis Normandin, kidnapped in March 86, and Roger Auque, kidnapped in January 87, are set free.

\_this day in full \_on this day

January 27, 1988wednesday
Ralph Schary is kidnapped in West Beirut. Married to Rana Mounla, a Muslim from Tripoli, he is the third West German national who is kidnapped.

\_this day in full \_on this day

April 27, 1988wednesday
27,000 public school teachers go on an open strike in order to obtain better medical and social benefits.

\_this day in full \_on this day

May 27, 1988friday
Syrians deploy in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

\_this day in full the books also date it 6 May 1988, 17 May 1988 \_on this day

\_what the books add

Hanf (p. 317) dates the Syrian entry into the southern suburbs to 17 May 1988; de Clerck and Malsagne write 19 May (with the year printed as 1989). Neither gives 27 May.

June 27, 1988monday
Chatila falls in the hands of the Palestinian dissidents.

\_this day in full the books also date it 28 June 1988, 8 July 1988 \_on this day

\_what the books add

De Clerck (pp. 170, 576) dates the fall of Chatila to 28 June 1988, after 59 days of shelling; Arafat's fighters were escorted to Ain al-Hilweh.

November 27, 1988sunday
President Takieddine Solh dies in Paris at the age of 80 following a heart attack.

\_this day in full \_on this day

April 27, 1989thursday
The Arab ministers meeting in Tunis wish to see a cease-fire and a deployment of Arab observers.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

Hanf reads Aoun's acceptance of the Tunis appeal as dropping the steps against illegal militia ports that had set off the confrontation.

September 27, 1989wednesday
Lakhdar Ibrahimi announces that the parliamentary meeting will take place in Taef (in Saudi Arabia) on September 30th.

\_this day in full the books also date it 13 September 1989, 30 September 1989 \_on this day

\_what the books add

The meeting date of 30 September was already part of the troika's 13 September proposals (Hanf). De Clerck and Malsagne say 63 of the 73 surviving deputies gathered in Taif on 30 September. Hanf dates the formal opening to 1 October.

July 27, 1990friday
Five cases of cholera were reported.

\_this day in full \_on this day

August 27, 1990monday
The economic crisis is in full swing and the dollar continues its rise. It will reach 1.000 LBP. soon.

\_this day in full \_on this day

September 27, 1990thursday
The blockade against the Eastern region gets tougher and tougher. The goal is proclaimed: force General Aoun to give up before schools reopen.

\_this day in full the books also date it 28 September 1990 \_on this day

\_what the books add

Hanf notes the blockade had little support even outside the enclave, as civilians rather than Aoun's soldiers bore it. On 28 September 1990, he records, Lahoud's troops tightened it by taking every checkpoint around Aoun's area; Aoun's followers protested daily there and at Baabda.