lebanese war
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1975/1990
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137 news for the 5th, 8th, 27th of every month

with the books

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January 27, 1975monday
After stormy debates and demonstrations, most schools reopened their doors.

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February 5, 1975wednesday
The Arab Defense Committee gathered in Cairo, voted 90 million dollars for the defense of Lebanon.

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August 5, 1975tuesday
Israel launched air, land and sea attacks against Tyr, killing 18 persons and injuring 29.

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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.

January 5, 1976monday
After a delay of three months, the American University of Beirut inaugurated its academic year 1975-1976.

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March 8, 1976monday
Khatib's men occupied the strategic bolt of Arnoun.

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May 8, 1976saturday
Elias Sarkis, the 52 years old Central Bank Governor, was elected President of the Republic at the second ballot by a majority of 66 votes out of 69 attending deputies. The election took place in a tense atmosphere at the villa Esseily-Hussein Mansour, which was turned into a temporary Parliament around which mortar shells were falling. Lebanese leftist parties were opposed to the elections.

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Hanf and Ménargues count 66 votes for Sarkis out of 69 cast; de Clerck and Malsagne give 70. National Movement and PLO mortars fired as deputies, escorted by Saiqa, PLA or Syrian troops, met at the Villa Mansour on the demarcation line. Votes were reportedly bought, by Syria (de Clerck and Malsagne) or with Saudi and CIA money (Traboulsi). Sarkis was sworn in only on 23 September.

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

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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.

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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).

July 5, 1976monday
The PLO and their allies launched a massive offensive against the Kura and the Christian town of Chekka north of Beirut.

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Hanf writes that once Jisr al-Pasha fell on 1 July the Palestinians struck in the north, taking coastal Chekka from Tripoli by way of the Koura, with massacres, looting and arson. A Lebanese Front counter-attack with army tanks reached Tripoli's outskirts.

July 8, 1976thursday
The leftists opened new fronts in the port and business districts, hoping to draw the rightists away from Tel El Zaatar, but the assaults were quickly repulsed by local defenders.

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October 8, 1976friday
The Arab League's representative in Lebanon, Hassam Sabri Kholi, announced that the four-party commission (Syria, Lebanon, PLO, Arab League) will meet starting October 9 in Chtaura to study the measures to be taken to end the combats in Lebanon and execute the Lebanese-Palestinian Cairo agreement.

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February 8, 1977tuesday
Kurt Waldheim, Secretary General of the United Nations, arrived to Beirut. He declared that the United Nations would substantially help Lebanon and that the future of this country was closely linked the comprehensive solution in the Middle East.

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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.

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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.

April 5, 1977tuesday
The officials were satisfied with the ongoing excavations in the heart of the city where the most damaged sectors were located, for they exhumed valuable Phoenician, Roman and Byzantine vestiges.

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July 8, 1977friday
An armed group took control of a Boeing connecting Beirut to Kuwait.
Twelve armed men highjacked a Boeing 707 belonging to the Kuwait Airways company. 45 passengers, including the Kuwaiti ambassador in Lebanon and ten crewmembers, were on board. The highjackers claimed the liberation of 300 persons detained in six Arab countries. The next day, they set the hostages free and surrendered to the authorities

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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.'

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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.

September 8, 1977thursday
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Kurt Waldheim called upon all conflicting parties in Southern Lebanon urging them to fully participate in the efforts aiming at reaching a cease-fire in the region.

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November 5, 1977saturday
An odious murder was committed against Abdel-Hamid Ahdab. He was a strong defender of an inter-Lebanese dialogue in favor of an absolute allegiance to the country. The powerful explosion placed in Ahdab's residence killed his daughter and seriously injured him and his spouse. This criminal act was perpetrated against democracy, freedom of speech and reconciliation between the Lebanese.

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

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

March 8, 1978wednesday
The US government agreed on granting Lebanon an agricultural loan of the amount of 8,800,000 dollars.

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

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June 5, 1978monday
Ghassan Tueini proposed, at the UN General Assembly, an 'international neutrality to protect Lebanon, because this country has no longer any other future besides explosion or invasion'. A UN force would take in charge the protection of the territory, while the army would devote its efforts to internal security and reconstruction.

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October 8, 1978sunday
Residents of Achrafieh stepped out of their shelters only to realize the magnitude of the damages. Despite the respect of the cease-fire agreed upon by Presidents Elias Sarkis and Hafez Assad, the region was still under blockade.

\_this day in full the books also date it 7 October 1978 \_on this day

\_what the books add

De Clerck and Malsagne date the end of the shelling to 7 October. On that day President Sarkis asked in public for the Arab Deterrent Force's mandate, due to lapse on 28 October, to be extended, and Syria maintained its blockade until the renewal.

December 5, 1978tuesday
The Arab tripartite committee including Saudi and Kuwaiti ambassadors and a Syrian general, met in Baabda in presence of the chief of State. The committee excluded any immediate resort to the army.

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December 8, 1978friday
A serious incident was reported in Jounieh.
A Phalangist leader, Elie Hobeika, was arrested at an army checkpoint in Nahr el Kalb. The incident degenerated into fights and the entire region flared up. A helicopter transporting Saudi and Kuwaiti ambassadors and flying over the region was hit by submachine-gun shots. The Saudi ambassador was injured.

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Ménargues writes that when the Moukafaha, Johnny Abdo's own intervention unit, arrested Elie Hobeika for allegedly having the Saudi ambassador's helicopter fired on, Bashir Gemayel had about a hundred army officers abducted; they were traded for Hobeika three weeks later.

January 5, 1979friday
Lebanon entered a complacency phase.
All sides seemed decided to wait for important regional developments to unfold in order to re-evaluate the situation and define the course of action. The situation was very tense in the South where the Israelis were shelling the Hasbaya region.

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January 8, 1979monday
The bad weather provoked considerable damages.
Following strong showers during the weekend in the North, landslides made several routes impracticable whereas, for the first time in twenty years, a flood was reported in Nahr El Kebir, which constitutes the Northern frontier between Lebanon and Syria. The El Arida metallic bridge collapsed.

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February 5, 1979monday
New identity cards bearing no mention of religion, were also due to be released soon.

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April 8, 1979sunday
The United Arab Emirates called back their "Green Helmets". Syria was the only country running for the next Arabic Strike Force mandate.

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May 8, 1979tuesday
Power cuts became more and more frequent in the country. The Director of the Electricité du Liban recommended to the population to save power.

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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.

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September 8, 1979saturday
Dalida fascinated her fans at the Piccadilly. September 11
A confrontation between the Phalangists and the Tachnag (Armenian militia) caused 24 dead, 30 wounded and 40 hostages in Nabaa and Bourj Hammoud.

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\_what the books add

Dalida also sang at the new Summerland hotel in Jnah in September 1979 (de Clerck and Malsagne). The Kataeb-Tashnag clashes of 11 September belong to a series: Hanf records hostilities in May and September 1979, settled amicably; de Clerck and Malsagne date fighting to November; Traboulsi says that in 1978-1979 the Phalange and Chamoun's Tigers gradually subdued the Armenian militias, which would not pay them taxes.

October 8, 1979monday
Phalangist armed elements set up a surprise checkpoint in Ainata, the road leading to the Cedars, and took 70 hostages from Zghorta. The Marada retaliated by taking 230 hostages that were released on October 12, following a call launched by Pope John Paul II.

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De Clerck and Malsagne put October 1979 abductions in the North at 500 to 1,000 people.

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

February 5, 1980tuesday
Mgr Elias Audeh was elected the Greek Orthodox Metropolite of Beirut.

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March 5, 1980wednesday
In a message addressed to the Nation, the President of the Republic proclaimed the State's Arab and internal options. He rejected the Camp David agreements, and underlined the coordination between Lebanon and Syria wile respecting the sovereignty of both countries. Furthermore, he refused the idea of creating mini-states and reassured his attachment to freedom.

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Probably the text Picard lists as President Sarkis's 'Fourteen Points' (March 1980), one of the drafts that fed into the Taif Accord. Traboulsi notes that in that same month an American spokesman called on Lebanon to sign up to the Camp David accords.

March 5, 1980wednesday
Seven Zghortiotes were released in exchange of eleven Phalangists. The exchange of hostages took place after 5 months of detention.

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