521 news for January–March, July, December
with the books25,000 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
\_what the books add
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.
\_this day in full the books also date it 18 March 1978 \_on this day
\_what the books add
Resolution 425 was adopted with Resolution 426, which set up the force; the USSR abstained (de Clerck and Malsagne). UNIFIL later numbered about 6,000 soldiers, with France providing the largest first contingent (1,290 men).
\_this day in full the books also date it 23 March 1978 \_on this day
\_what the books add
Fisk dates the arrival in Tyre of UNIFIL's first unit, Colonel Jean Germain Salvan's French paratroopers, to 23 March. That morning, at the nearby Hassan Borro barracks, Palestinians and Lebanese officers nearly opened fire over the handover.
\_this day in full \_on this day
\_what the books add
Fisk adds that during the invasion Gur declared that Israel would fall back to the Christian enclaves as a border 'security belt': the strip that became Major Haddad's.
\_this day in full the books also date it 28 October 1978 \_on this day
\_this day in full \_on this day
\_what the books add
Hanf has Syrian guns shelling Ain el-Remmaneh on the day of mourning called after the Qaa killings, and the Syrian troops ignoring Sarkis's order to cease fire. Ménargues puts Bashir Gemayel's brief detention at a Syrian checkpoint at the end of July.
\_this day in full \_on this day
\_what the books add
Fisk adds that the Syrian shelling slackened around this time after sonic booms from a pair of Israeli jets flying low over West Beirut.
They remained there until the end of the year. Christian militias supported by Israel in the South stopped their advance.
\_this day in full \_on this day
\_what the books add
Hanf writes that Major Haddad's forces fired at Kaukaba on the units sent south in early August, men of the 'vanguard' Syria trusted, and drove them into retreat. Haddad later rebelled openly against the army command, and Israel took over paying his men.
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.
\_this day in full \_on this day
\_what the books add
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.
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.
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.
Concurrently, the Security Council renewed the UNIFL mandate until Beirut elaborated a program re-establishing its authority in Southern Lebanon.
\_this day in full \_on this day
\_what the books add
According to de Clerck and Malsagne, a Mossad agent detonated a bomb in a Volkswagen as Salameh's Chevrolet passed. His wife, Georgina Rizk, had been Lebanon's first Miss Universe.
\_this day in full the books also date it 18 April 1979 \_on this day
\_this day in full \_on this day
\_what the books add
The Saudis announced their departure in March 1979 (Ménargues). Picard has Syria's partners, among them Saudis, Sudanese and Emiratis, leaving two years after the 1976 summits; de Clerck and Malsagne call the ADF wholly Syrian from 1979.
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.
\_this day in full \_on this day
\_what the books add
Ménargues: once the Saudis said in March 1979 they would hand their positions to the army, an army–militia clash looked inevitable; intelligence chief Johnny Abdo reopened contact with Bashir.