lebanese war
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1975/1990
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138 news for the 4th, 13th, 21st of every month

with the books

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April 13, 1975sunday
A serious incident opposed the Phalange (Kataeb) Party to the Resistance in Ain El Remmaneh causing 31 deaths.
These people were on board of a bus bringing back from Tell El Zaatar members of Palestinian Organizations who had just participated in a Resistance meeting. Because of the incident, tension rose in the Palestinian camp and in many surrounding towns. Authorities and mediators were trying to calm the waters and ask the Phalange Party leader, Pierre Gemayel, to hand over those responsible of the incident to the Lebanese Justice.

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The day began with shootings near the church in Ain al-Rummaneh, where Pierre Gemayel was attending a consecration; his bodyguard Joseph Bou Assi was killed. In the early afternoon Kataeb militiamen fired on a bus returning to Tal al-Za'tar from a rally of the Arab Liberation Front. Most historians count 27 dead (Hanf, Fisk, de Clerck and Malsagne: 27 of 35 passengers); Traboulsi gives 21 and Ménargues 31. According to de Clerck and Malsagne the bus carried Palestinians and Lebanese in equal numbers, all men. Fighting spread that evening across the suburbs of Beirut.

September 21, 1975sunday
Bread, flour, gas, and meat became scarce in Beirut while snipers spread terror.

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De Clerck and Malsagne date the start of bread rationing to September 1975.

October 4, 1975saturday
Interior Security Forces held in check a land attack against the Beirut International Airport where 4 armed men tried to kidnap an airplane in order to go to Cairo.

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October 21, 1975tuesday
Kamal El Assad was reelected president of the Chamber by 47 votes against one. At the same time, Beirut was still under fire and the list of victims, whether kidnapped, executed, or shot by snipers or mortar shells, kept growing.

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

January 21, 1976wednesday
Sabri Hamadeh died.
Sabri Hamadeh, a legendary figure on the Lebanese political scene and an independence hero, died from a heart attack. He was 74 years old. He was born in 1902 in the Hermel and entered the political arena very early. In 1925, he was elected for the first time deputy of the Hermel. His mandate was renewed several times. In 1944, he became President of the Parliament. In addition, he had been repeatedly vice-president of the Council, as well as Minister of Interior and Minister of Public Works and Transportation. He was titular of several honorific distinctions such as the great cordon of the National Order of the Cedar.

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March 21, 1976sunday
The ' Holiday Inn ' occupied by the Phalange Party fell in the hands of the Mourabitun and their allies.
According to some sources, the Phalange Party succeeded in evacuating some of its militiamen who took with them seven dead bodies, three of which were young girls. According to other sources, 65 militiamen were able to run away using an underground passage. The Holiday Inn had been subject to repeated assaults for the past ten months.

\_this day in full the books also date it 20 March 1976, 22 March 1976 \_on this day

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Mourabitoun and Palestinian fighters, backed by Lebanese Arab Army artillery, took the 24-storey Holiday Inn after a fight waged floor by floor, day and night, from 20 to 22 March 1976 (Traboulsi dates the fall to 22 March). The Kataeb withdrew to the Fattal building near the port. The five-month Battle of the Hotels was over, and Beirut was split along the Green Line.

May 4, 1976tuesday
Air France suspended its flights. It was the last foreign airline that was still flying to Lebanon.

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June 21, 1976monday
The first contingent of the Arab Peace Force arrived to Beirut.

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Sudan supplied the Arab peace force's first contingent, some 2,000 men, and Libya the next (Hanf).

July 13, 1976tuesday
William Hawi, commnander of the Kataeb military forces was shot and killed by a sniper whilst he was inspecting his forces on the edge of the Tel el Zaatar camp.

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Ménargues has William Hawi shot by a Palestinian sniper in June 1976, at the end of the Tal al-Za'tar siege; Traboulsi places it during the siege. Bashir Gemayel succeeded him as Kataeb militia chief.

September 4, 1976saturday
Bleeding continued in the ports. Massive emigration went on in the same intensity. Hundreds of families flew every day by sea escaping from hell.

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Historians disagree on 1976: Haugbolle ranks it among the war's largest emigration waves, while de Clerck and Malsagne see many returning that year after nearly 400,000 Lebanese had left by 1975. Haugbolle notes that no official figures exist.

November 21, 1976sunday
The President addressed a message to the Nation.
In a vibrant call to the Nation at the occasion of Independence Day on the 22nd of November, the President of the Republic called all Lebanese to unite around him in order to build a new Lebanon. He declared that he was sure Lebanon would put up with the challenge caused by the crisis. The President underlined the need for an absolute preservation of security, paying homage to the role played by the Arab Dissuasion Force. The President spoke mainly in his speech about the reconstruction efforts and the boosting of the economy. He also expressed his wish to see neighboring countries assist Lebanon by providing the necessary assistance and facilities.

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December 4, 1976saturday
A violent explosion hit the district of Mousseytbeh, where a bomb exploded next to Kamal Joumblatt's house, killing 4 persons and seriously injuring 20 others.

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February 4, 1977friday
The Government promulgated a decree concerning wartime conflicts between owners and renters.
The decree stipulated mainly that rent contracts remained operative, while backlogs will be staggered on 18 months with no interest for all rents under 5,000 Lebanese Pounds. As to destroyed properties, there were three possibilities: reconstruct, compensate the renters, or give them shares.

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May 13, 1977friday
An Antonov-12 air freighter belonging to the Polish company LOT crashed in the forest of Aramoun. The airplane that was returning from Warsaw carried a shipment of meat and seven crewmembers who perished in the accident.

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June 4, 1977saturday
The election of Miss Lebanon was organized at the Santa Teresa in Maameltein.

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July 13, 1977wednesday
Dalida sang in Byblos and charmed the Lebanese.

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July 21, 1977thursday
The ' technical Palestinian-Syrian-Lebanese committee ' met in Chtaura, trying to put an end to the hostilities in South Lebanon and find a settlement for the Palestinian armed presence in the country, as suggested by the Cairo agreement. This meeting was the first between Lebanese, Syrians, and Palestinians since fights stopped last November. It resulted from the recent meetings between leaders of these three countries.

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June 4, 1978sunday
A 19 years old Lebanese pianist, Abdel Rahman El Bacha, won the longest and toughest international contest: the Queen Elisabeth Music Prize.

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June 13, 1978tuesday
A dramatic event was reported in Zghorta. A chock commando killed Tony Frangieh, deputy and son of the President Sleiman Frangieh, his wife Vera and their daughter Jihane, at their home in Ehden. The murder of Tony Frangieh took place while the conflict between the Phalange Party and the Zghortiotes was at its peak.

\_this day in full the books also date it 14 June 1978 \_on this day

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Historians date the Ehden killings to 13 June (de Clerck and Malsagne) or 14 June (Hanf). A unit of some 200 men (Traboulsi) led by Samir Geagea attacked the Frangieh residence; besides Tony Frangieh, his wife and their three-year-old daughter, about thirty relatives and supporters were killed. The Phalange presented the raid as retaliation for the killing of their local leader Jud al-Bayeh in early June; Bashir Gemayel denied ordering the killing of the family. The raid also turned on control of the Chekka cement works. Syrian troops then occupied Ehden and much of the north.

August 13, 1978sunday
A bomb destroyed an eight floor building where the offices of the Palestine Liberation Front were located. The explosion killed 150 persons.

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October 4, 1978wednesday
The bombardments reached Bikfaya and Beit-Mery while in East Beirut there was a shortage of food and medications. The Security Council called for the urgent ending of the combats.

\_this day in full the books also date it 6 October 1978 \_on this day

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According to de Clerck and Malsagne, the Security Council's call for a ceasefire came on 6 October.

November 4, 1978saturday
While the situation improved on the ground, Damascus liberated Ahmed Khatib, previously chief of the Army of Arab Lebanon.

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November 21, 1978tuesday
President Sarkis called for an understanding.

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March 21, 1979wednesday
Thousands of women demonstrated in the southern suburbs.
A feminine walk was taking place in Furn el Chebbak and Ain el Remmaneh to celebrate mother's day and the international year of the child. Demonstrators brandished banners claiming, among other things, security in the Southern suburbs, an army presence, the return of displaced persons, the indemnification of bombardment victims, and reconstruction loans.

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April 21, 1979saturday
The United States reaffirmed through their ambassador in Lebanon, their support to President Elias Sarkis and considered Saad Haddad and his men as rebels.

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May 13, 1979sunday
Amine Gemayel, deputy of the Northern Metn and member of the Phalange Party's political bureau, escaped from an assassination attempt that nearly cost him his two children's life. A plastic explosive (20 kg of TNT) tied to a 122 mm bomb placed in a trunk of a tree, exploded at the time Amine Gemayel's car went by. He was injured in the face. This incident caused a general strike in the Eastern regions.

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June 4, 1979monday
Pierre Gemayel, Chief of the Phalange Party, escaped a killing attack in Nahr el Kalb.
The explosion slightly injured his head and killed one person and wounded about 10.

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June 21, 1979thursday
Violent combats with heavy armaments opposed the Lebanese army and the Arab Strike Force at the jurd of Akoura killing 7 Lebanese and injuring 19 persons, 13 of which were militiamen.

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June 21, 1979thursday
Elias IV, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and the Orient died.

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July 21, 1979saturday
At Mont La Salle, many fans applauded Joe Dassin, the baladin-poete.

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August 13, 1979monday
The Iraqi ambassador was wounded during an attack in Jnah.

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August 21, 1979tuesday
A deluge of fire fell on Tyr and Nabatyeh and hit a religious monastery causing 4 deaths and 28 injuries. The shelling was extended to the borders of Saida and Jezzine.

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October 4, 1979thursday
A light earthquake shook the region of Saida without any victim.

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October 4, 1979thursday
The Minister of Foreign affairs, Fouad Boutros, called upon the United Nations to end Israeli aggressions in the South, to freeze the activities of the Fedayin, to reinforce the UNIFL, and to dissociate the Lebanese problem from the regional crisis.

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January 21, 1980monday
The Lebanese army projected to deploy in South Lebanon while Israel was strongly opposed to this project.

\_this day in full the books also date it 20 March 1980 \_on this day

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Deploying the army, Sarkis insisted on his return from an Arab meeting at Ta'if in February 1980, should come before political reform (Traboulsi). Amal and the Phalange newspaper al-Amal also called for the army to be sent south (Traboulsi; Hanf).

February 13, 1980wednesday
The Phalangist deputy from Jezzine, Edmond Risk was kidnapped, causing a rising tension in the region.

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March 4, 1980tuesday
The mutilated body of Selim Laouzi was found in the forests of Aramoun ten days after his kidnapping.

\_this day in full the books also date it 5 March 1980 \_on this day

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Fisk reads the mutilation of al-Lawzi's body as a warning to the Lebanese press: the flesh of his writing hand had been removed, by knife or acid, and two shots fired into his neck from behind. A shepherd found him, half under snow, in the Aramoun woods on 5 March.

March 13, 1980thursday
Fights opposed Amal to the Fateh, killing seven persons in the Ouzaï-Aramoun region. Leaders of the National Movement started to mediate between the two parties to end the dispute.

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Hanf: early in 1980 Amal fought the Iraqi-backed Arab Liberation Front in Beirut's suburbs while Fatah tried to mediate, as relations between Shi'is and Palestinians grew worse; the fighting later reached the south.

June 13, 1980friday
The European Community called upon all parties in her meeting in Venice, inviting them to end all actions that might harm Lebanon's independence and sovereignty.

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July 4, 1980friday
Artillery duels and armed confrontations continued between the Phalange Party and the NLP in the regions of Wadi-Chahrour, Betchay, Bsous,Kfarchima, and their surroundings. 16 persons were killed and 20 others wounded. The next day, the Lebanese army took in charge the areas of Wadi-Chahrour, Betchay, Bsous, Kfarchima, Bsaba, and Bleibel in the Southern-Metn, ending the conflict between the Phalange Party and the NLP in the region.

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De Clerck and Malsagne list Wadi Chahrour and Kfarchima among the National Liberals' bases in Beirut's south-eastern suburbs and end the wave of clashes between Christian militias on 2 July 1980. Ménargues describes near-daily fighting in the second half of June. Bashir Gemayel settled the rivalry by force on 7 July.

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