lebanese war
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1975/1990
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125 news for the 4th, 9th, 14th of every month

with the books

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

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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 9, 1976tuesday
President Elias Sarkis appointed Colonel Ahmad Hajj commander of the Arab Strike Force.

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Ménargues names only Sami al-Khatib. Traboulsi confirms that the Arab Deterrent Force's first Lebanese commander was Ahmad al-Hajj, who did not gain Syria's favour and was quickly replaced by al-Khatib.

November 9, 1976tuesday
Phase 1of the peace plan assigned to the Arab Strike Force takes effect tonight.
The 'Green Helmets' began their deployment at midnight and headed towards the mountain on four simultaneous axes. This positioning was difficult due to the blind bombings of the residential districts of Beirut.

\_this day in full the books also date it 10 November 1976 \_on this day

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Fisk: Kahhaleh showed white flags and Hazmiyeh's Christians threw rice and rose water at the crews as at least 20 miles of Syrian tanks, guns and troop carriers came down on Beirut from dawn on 10 November.

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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December 9, 1976thursday
President Sarkis asked Salim El Hoss to form the Government.
The new Cabinet included: Salim El Hoss: Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Trade, Industry and Oil, and Information. Fouad Boutros: Vice-President of the Council, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, and National Defense. Salah Salman: Minister of Interior, and Housing and Cooperatives. Ibrahim Cheaito: Minister of Health and Hydraulic and Electric Resources. Amine Bizri: Minister of Public Works, Transportation, and Tourism. Michel Doumit: Minister of Plan Assaad Risk: Minster of Social Affairs, National Education and Fine Arts, and Agriculture. Farid Raphael: Minister of Justice, Finance, and Posts and Telecommunications.

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Its members were technocrats and businessmen; the one politician, Fouad Boutros, held both foreign affairs and defence (Traboulsi). Early on, at Syria's behest, it brought in press censorship (Hanf, Fisk); Traboulsi also mentions an order for militias to surrender their arms.

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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February 14, 1977monday
The ambassador of the United States returned to Lebanon.
Intense diplomatic activity was carried on in Beirut. The French Minister of Foreign Affairs started an official visit. The American Secretary of State met, during a visit to the Middle East, with President Sarkis in Beirut reassuring him that the United States supports the independence, unity and territorial integrity of the country. He announced a 50 million dollars aid to Lebanon.

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

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August 9, 1977tuesday
The Spanish singer Julio Iglesias charmed the Lebanese beauties with his beautiful voice.

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October 9, 1977sunday
Charbel Makhlouf was proclaimed Saint of the Catholic Church during a moving religious ceremony that Pope Paul VI presided in the Saint Paul Basilica in the Vatican. Thousands of people attended the ceremony, including some miraculous Lebanese. It was a touching moment for the whole Christian community in Lebanon. The Lebanese Maronite delegation carried gifts to the Saint: markouk bred, wine, fruits from the Kesrouan, a partridge and a cedar. The hermit of Annaya became the first Orient Saint canonized by Rome.

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Once canonised, Saint Charbel stood for 'Maronite identity' and for the protection of a predominantly Christian Lebanon.

November 9, 1977wednesday
Israel launched an assault in the South. An air and sea Israeli bombing of Lebanese towns and Palestinian camps claimed the lives of 110 civilians. The town of Ezzieh was razed.

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November 14, 1977monday
During the last meeting of the Arab Ministers of Interior and Foreign Affairs that started in Tunis on November 12, Arab Leaders examined the situation in Southern Lebanon. They emphasized the necessity for an immediate and complete execution of the Cairo agreement. Israel informed Lebanon that it would not tolerate any Palestinian presence in the South.

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March 14, 1978tuesday
Israel invaded the South, after an operation executed by the Fedayin on March 11 at Tel Aviv.
25,000 men backed by the aviation, armored vehicles and artillery invaded, within 2 hours, a tenth of Lebanon and forced Palestinians to withdraw to the North of the Litani. A first estimate reported 700 deaths and 160,000 displaced persons. Refugees rushed to Beirut causing a serious social problem. Air raids bombarded Damour, Ouzaï, and Tyr.

\_this day in full the books also date it 15 March 1978 \_on this day

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Historians date the start of Operation Litani to 14 March (de Clerck and Malsagne, Traboulsi, Quéméner; de Clerck's chronology gives 15 March) and its end to 21 March. Up to 25,000 Israeli soldiers and 120 tanks took part (de Clerck and Malsagne). Estimates of the dead range from about 300 Palestinian fighters (de Clerck and Malsagne) to about 2,000 people, mostly civilians (Fisk; de Clerck and Malsagne; Picard). Estimates of the displaced range from 150,000 (Hanf's refugee table) and more than 200,000 (de Clerck and Malsagne, Picard) to 285,000 (Lebanese government figure cited by Fisk). On 15 March Israeli aircraft bombed the Palestinian camps of Beirut, Tyre and Damour.

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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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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May 9, 1979wednesday
President Elias Sarkis urged the United Nations and the Arabs to assume their responsibilities. The chief of the State violently condemned the repeated Israeli aggressions against Lebanon qualifying them of flagrant challenge to human principles.

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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 14, 1979thursday
After having renewed the UNIFL mandate for six months, the United Nations proclaimed the validity of the Armistice Commission. The Security Council deplored Israeli aggressions and asked all parties to cooperate with the blue helmets.

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August 9, 1979thursday
The Cabinet won the Parliament's confidence by the majority of 54 votes against nine.

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August 14, 1979tuesday
Tension reached its peak everywhere in Lebanon.
Heavy fights opposed the Lebanese Forces to the Lebanese army at the Beirut River's Corniche and in Oyoune el Simane.

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

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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February 9, 1980saturday
Bahige Takieddine, Minister of Interior and Tourism, and deputy of the Chouf, died from a heart attack.
The Presidency of the Republic ordered national funerals and three days of mourning. Bahige Takieddine was born in 1909 in Baakline in the Chouf. He studied at the French Lycée then went to the Law School at Saint Joseph University. He was minister several times since 1974.

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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 9, 1980sunday
Edmond Rizk who had been kept hostage in Zghorta since February 13, was released.

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April 9, 1980wednesday
The Council of Ministers raised the wages in the private sector by 29%. The ceiling of the raise was fixed at 625 Lebanese Pound, while the floor of the raise was fixed at 150 Lebanese pounds. The minimum salary increased therefore from 525 to 675 Lebanese Pounds.

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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.

July 9, 1980wednesday
The employees of the civil aviation launched an open strike at the Beirut International Airport.

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August 9, 1980saturday
President Takieddine Solh announced that he will suspend his efforts to form a new Cabinet. 'It is still not possible to put together a government of active forces,' he said.

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Ménargues attributes Solh's failure to a Syrian veto.

November 9, 1980sunday
Three young men from Hammana were killed in awful conditions. Their bodies were found in a well in the Chouf.

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January 9, 1981friday
A new phase of the war started in Lebanon: the war of televisions. The 'Lebanese Forces' wanted to broadcast under the name 'Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation' and the Mourabitun seemed to be willing to give them hard time. As a result, they both emitted on the same channel and thus jammed the image.

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February 4, 1981wednesday
Four Lebanese militaries were killed in a helicopter accident. The Aircraft crashed on the hills of Sannine.

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February 14, 1981saturday
Snipers paralyzed the circulation in Sodeco, the main road connecting East and West Beirut.

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April 4, 1981saturday
An intensive bombardment in Zahleh killed 20 and injured 100.

\_this day in full the books also date it 6 April 1981 \_on this day

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Ménargues dates a day of intensive shelling of Zahleh, with about twenty dead, to 6 April.

April 9, 1981thursday
For the first time in Zahleh since the beginning of the confrontations, the Red Cross was able to evacuate 19 persons seriously injured.

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May 9, 1981saturday
Both sectors in Beirut witnessed a day of terror. Blind bombardments caused 21 dead and 98 wounded. The shelling reached Jounieh, Bkerkeh, and Beit Mery.

\_this day in full the books also date it 8 May 1981 \_on this day

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For 8 May, a day of shelling throughout Habib's meetings, Ménargues gives the US embassy toll: 21 dead and 98 wounded.

June 9, 1981tuesday
The American envoy Philip Habib began a new round of visits in the region.

\_this day in full the books also date it 10 June 1981 \_on this day

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