lebanese war
chronology
1975/1990
\_by Phases
\_by Dates
\_Search

page 1 of 2 next

January 7, 1975tuesday
Teachers went on strike
25,000 private school teachers went on an open strike. The movement hit approximately 200,000 students. Strikers were claiming the amendment of their salary scale and of the teachers' dismissal law. Their actual minimum salary amounted for 250 Lebanese pounds.

\_this day in full \_on this day

March 7, 1975friday
Major events were reported in the town of Saida.
The army clashed with demonstrators protesting in favor of fishermen. Maarouf Saad, former legislator, was hit by a bullet and died from his wounds. Saida was in fire and blood. Many dead and wounded persons were reported, on the civilian as well as on the military sides. Businesses and schools shut down. Many leaders accused the Prime Minister, Rachid El Solh, of being responsible for the recent events in Saida. Nevertheless, demonstrations supporting the army were organized in Beirut.

\_this day in full the books also date it 26 February 1975 \_on this day

\_what the books add

De Clerck and Malsagne and Traboulsi date the Sidon fishermen's protest to 26 February 1975. The marchers opposed Protein, a fishing company whose board included Camille Chamoun; their leader, Maarouf Saad, was shot and died some days later. Clashes between the army and armed groups in Sidon and Tyre followed at the start of March: de Clerck and Malsagne give 6 soldiers and 11 civilians killed and an army pull-out from Tyre, Hanf 5 soldiers and 11 civilians. The Kataeb staged a pro-army demonstration in Beirut. Hanf puts the fishermen's protest in March, and Picard describes the Sidon marchers as Palestinian militants.

July 7, 1975monday
New coins equivalent to one Lebanese pound were issued

\_this day in full \_on this day

July 7, 1975monday
An Israeli aggression against Rachidieh and Bourghoulieh camps in South Lebanon killed 12 persons and wounded 20 others. A Lebanese complaint was lodged at the United Nations.

\_this day in full \_on this day

September 7, 1975sunday
Tripoli was in fire and blood
Exceptionally violent fights opposed Tripolitans to Zghortiotes, causing fires, kidnappings and street fights.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

Historians describe the Tripoli-Zgharta round as following the Zahleh fighting of late August: kidnappings on both sides, the killing of twelve Muslim bus passengers on the Beirut-Tripoli road, attacks on Christian villages in Akkar and the flight of Christians from Tripoli and Akkar. It ended when the army created a buffer zone between the two towns.

January 7, 1976wednesday
The Palestinian camps of Tell El Zaatar and Jisr El Bacha being under a blockade, 1200 armed elements attacked the region of Horsh Tabet. Pitched battles opposed Phalangist and Fedayin activists.

\_this day in full the books also date it 4 January 1976 \_on this day

\_what the books add

De Clerck and Malsagne date the siege of Tal al-Za'tar from 4 January 1976 to the camp's fall on 12 August. According to Hanf, Interior Minister Camille Chamoun had Internal Security Forces units join the assault.

June 7, 1976monday
Violent combats opposed pro-Syrian formations to Palestinian Progressive militiamen in several districts of Beirut. Syrian troops entered the capital where most Palestinian Progressive forces were concentrated.

\_this day in full the books also date it 14 November 1976 \_on this day

\_what the books add

In Beirut in early June, Hanf writes, Fatah and its allies turned on Saiqa, the PLA and the pro-Syrian parties and cleared them from the city within a few hours. Syria's regular army stayed outside the capital for now: on 7 June its troops got as far as Sofar on the Beirut-Damascus road and into Sidon, where an armoured column was wiped out. Syrian forces reached Beirut only in mid-November, within the Arab Deterrent Force.

January 7, 1977friday
Regular Palestinian forces will have to leave Lebanon before January 13', announced a press release issued by the presidency of the Republic.

\_this day in full \_on this day

February 7, 1978tuesday
A serious incident occurred in Fayadieh.
Lebanese Soldiers fought with elements of the Arab Strike Force. Shots were exchanged followed by heavy armaments shootings.

\_this day in full the books also date it 8 February 1978, 17 February 1978 \_on this day

\_what the books add

Historians date the Fayadiyeh incident to 7 February (de Clerck and Malsagne), 8 February (Hanf) or 17 February (Ménargues). It began when Syrian soldiers set up a roadblock in front of the Military Academy; officer cadets, led according to de Clerck and Malsagne by Captain Samir (Sami) al-Achkar, fought back and Syrian artillery shelled the barracks. Syrian losses are given as 13 dead and 36 wounded (de Clerck and Malsagne), over 30 dead (Ménargues) or 220 dead and 30 wounded (Hanf). As fighting spread into East Beirut, about a hundred people died when Syrian guns shelled Badaro, Ain el-Remmaneh and Karm el-Zeitoun. Sarkis and Damascus settled the affair with a joint Lebanese-Syrian military court. De Clerck and Malsagne date the Syria-Christian split to it.

May 7, 1978sunday
The 'Mikhael Naimy' week was inaugurated under the patronage of the President of the Republic. This event was a Lebanese tribute to the great thinker and writer who stirs up Lebanon's tradition and vocation in the field of thinking.

\_this day in full \_on this day

November 7, 1978tuesday
The residence of General Victor Khoury in Amchit was dynamited.

\_this day in full \_on this day

September 7, 1979friday
Three commandos hijacked an Alitalia airplane. Their objective was to denounce Kadhafi in front of the international opinion. 141 passengers out of 175 were released at the airport of Rome. The air pirates surrendered to the Iranians the next day.

\_this day in full \_on this day

October 7, 1979sunday
Samir Bannout was sacred world champion of plastic beauty at the Colombo Championship in the United States.

\_this day in full \_on this day

December 7, 1979friday
For the first time in Lebanon, a particularly delicate surgical intervention was successfully undertaken. Professor Wafic Sinno performed an implantation of an artificial crystalline at the Hotel-Dieu hospital.

\_this day in full \_on this day

February 7, 1980thursday
The most beautiful blue eyes in the world visited Lebanon. Alain Delon arrived at the Beirut International Airport and charmed the Lebanese.

\_this day in full \_on this day

February 7, 1980thursday
Confrontations occurred between the Phalangists and the Zghortiotes in Knat, killing ten persons. Many fights opposing the two parties followed. Shells hit several villages in the cazas of Batroun, Koura, and Jbeil and over 10,000 civilians flew the combats. Finally, the Arab Strike Force entered Knat, and order was reestablished in the region on February 18.

\_this day in full \_on this day

August 7, 1980thursday
Car bombs continued in Lebanon in a cortege of horror. A car bomb exploded in Achrafieh, Sassine square, killing one person and injuring 30 others. The population developed a real phobia and was haunted by these cars that spread death.

\_this day in full \_on this day

November 7, 1980friday
An agreement was reached between Camille Chamoun and Pierre Gemayel to unify the Lebanese Forces.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

Hanf records the Lebanese Front's formula as 'political pluralism, military unity'. Traboulsi describes an eight-member executive committee under Bashir Gemayel running the Lebanese Forces: three Phalange seats, two each for the National Liberals and the Tanzim, one for the Guardians of the Cedars. Ménargues notes that after Ain el-Remmaneh Bashir had every unit swap its militia badges for one common insignia.

April 7, 1981tuesday
The Arab Strike Force maintained it pressure on Zahleh by bombarding it for the seventh consecutive day.

\_this day in full the books also date it 31 March 1981 \_on this day

May 7, 1981thursday
About 7,000 reinforcement Syrian troops were dispatched to the Bekaa region, to prepare against an eventual Israeli offensive.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

In Ménargues, the 'red line' between Sohmor and Yohmor in the southern Bekaa was occupied on 7 May by 7,000 Syrian troops: two brigades backed by tanks and heavy guns.

December 7, 1981monday
A Sadrist commando hijacked a Libyan airplane at the Beirut International Airport. The air pirates who held 43 hostages, injured a passenger and threatened to execute him in order to have the plane refueled. The aggressors called upon Khadafi to liberate the Imam.

\_this day in full \_on this day

September 7, 1982tuesday
According to a United Nations report, between the 6th of June 1982 and the 15th of August 1982, 6,775 persons had been killed and 30,000 others wounded. Over 80% of these victims were civilians form West Beirut. According to the same source, 2,094 seriously injured persons had been burned by phosphor bombs.

\_this day in full the books also date it 4 June 1982 \_on this day

\_what the books add

Figures differ by source and cut-off date. De Clerck and Malsagne cite a Lebanese police report of November 1982 covering 4 June to 21 August: 19,085 dead, 6,775 of them in Beirut and 84% of them civilians, and 30,302 wounded. Ménargues, citing police reports, gives 17,825 dead and 30,103 wounded from 4 June; Fisk gives almost 17,825 dead from 4 June to the end of September. Picard cites UNICEF: 29,506 dead and wounded between 4 June and 15 August, 80% of them civilians in Beirut and its suburbs. The 6,775 dead in the original therefore appear to be Beirut's share only.

October 7, 1982thursday
Prime Minister Chafic Wazzan announced the creation of the first government to the new presidential mandate. It included: Chaffic Wazzan: Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Elie Salem: Vice-President of the Council, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minster of Emigrants. Roger Chikhani: Minister of Justice and Information Pierre El Khoury: Minster of Public Works, Transports, and Agriculture Ibrahim Halaoui: Minister of Economy, Trade, and Tourism Bahaeddine Bsat: Minister of Hydraulic and Electric Resources, Housing, and Cooperatives Adnan Mroueh : Minister of Health, Social Affairs, and Labor Issam Khoury: Minister of National Defense, National Education and Fine Arts Georges Frem: Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, Industry and Oil Adel Hamiyeh : Minster of Finance

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

Jumblatt, passed over, became the government's first major opponent, and Amal was barely courted; Hanf judges the ministers able but politically weightless.

February 7, 1983monday
A 20-point security agreement to pacify the mountain was finally reached between the Lebanese Forces and the Druze, under Israeli aegis.

\_this day in full \_on this day

March 7, 1983monday
The State regained control over the fifth basin of the port.

\_this day in full the books also date it 1 March 1983 \_on this day

\_what the books add

De Clerck and Malsagne date the Lebanese Forces' return of the fifth basin to the state to 1 March 1983. Until then its customs receipts, put at 5 million dollars a month, supplied 20% of the militia's revenue. The army held it until 1985, when Samir Geagea took it back.

July 7, 1983thursday
Prime Minister Chaffic Wazzan escaped from a killing attempt. A car bomb exploded on his way to his office in Sanayeh.

\_this day in full \_on this day

August 7, 1983sunday
Blind terrorism continued to strike. A car bomb exploded in Baalbeck, killing 33 persons and injuring 133 others.

\_this day in full \_on this day

October 7, 1983friday
A first exchange of hostages between the LF and the P.S.P was possible under the aegis of the four-party military commission. Furthermore, the commission succeeded in assuring the entry of a Red Cross convoy in Deir El Kamar where 25,000 refugees had found shelter.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

De Clerck and Malsagne put more than 10,000 Christian refugees in Deir el-Qamar during its 102-day siege. Hunger killed 12 people in fragile health, and some diabetics died for want of insulin.

June 7, 1984thursday
It was impossible to put an end to the blind shelling. No one, neither a national union government, nor a 4-party military commission, was able to stop the bombardment of the residential areas which started 24 hours ago and had caused 5 dead and 37 injured persons so far.

\_this day in full \_on this day

July 7, 1984saturday
The parents of kidnapped and disappeared persons demonstrated and blocked the Museum axis.

\_this day in full \_on this day

November 7, 1984wednesday
A new round of Lebanese-Israeli negotiations started in Nakoura, 8 months after the abrogation of the May 17 agreement. These negotiations resumed on November 15. But deep disagreements appeared regarding the roles of the Lebanese Army, the South Lebanon Army and the UNIFL.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

The original entries do not agree with each other: entry 792 says the talks were to open on 5 November, this entry says 7 November.

December 7, 1984friday
Fights were reported downtown causing the Ring to close.

\_this day in full \_on this day

February 7, 1985thursday
Crewmembers of a Cyprus Airways Boeing were held hostages for 5 hours at the Beirut International Airport, by armed elements from Hay El Sellom. As a result, the company suspends its flights to Beirut.

\_this day in full \_on this day

May 7, 1985tuesday
29 persons were killed and 89 were wounded in a crazy night of shelling in Beirut. All what the inhabitants could do was to suppress their despair, hide in buckers, and thank god the next day for being still alive.

\_this day in full \_on this day

January 7, 1987wednesday
President Camille Chamoun escaped by miracle from a killing attempt. A car bomb exploded on the River cornice when his convoy was passing by. 4 persons were killed and 37 others were wounded. The President was injured in his arm.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

Hanf mentions the failed attempt on Chamoun's life early in 1987 and notes that he died in August of that year.

February 7, 1987saturday
The confrontations intensified around the Palestinian camps of Chatila and Bourj Brajneh. The risk of escalation intensified.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

By late 1986, say de Clerck and Malsagne, Chatila was 90 percent destroyed, yet 500 to 1,000 Palestinians held out inside. In the winter of 1987, Picard writes, many Palestinians in the besieged Beirut camps died of hunger.

March 7, 1987saturday
Iran dispatched a new ambassador to Lebanon where he received a triumphal welcome.

\_this day in full \_on this day

August 7, 1987friday
President Camille Chamoun dies from a heart attack. In a communiqué, The American Department of State emphasizes that 'Camille Chamoun was the most eminent politician in Lebanon'.

\_this day in full \_on this day

September 7, 1987monday
Alfred Schmidt, a West-German hostage, is released.

\_this day in full \_on this day

March 7, 1988monday
The R.F. Semaan Doueihy, Deputy of Zghorta, is killed by violent heart attack at the age of 67.

\_this day in full \_on this day

page 1 of 2 next