Timeline: Lebanon
A chronology of key events:
1920 1 September -
After the League of Nations grants the mandate for Lebanon and Syria to
France, the State of Greater Lebanon is proclaimed. It includes the
former autonomous province of Mount Lebanon, plus the provinces of
north Lebanon, south Lebanon and the Biqa, historically part of Syria.
1926 23 May -
Lebanese Representative Council approves a constitution and the
Lebanese Republic is declared.
1940 - Lebanon
comes under the control of the Vichy French government.
1941 - After
Lebanon is occupied by Free French and British troops in June 1941,
independence is declared on 26 November.
1943 March - The
foundations of the state are set out in an unwritten National Covenant
which states that Lebanon is an independent Arab country with ties to
the West but which cooperates with other Arab states while remaining
neutral. The 1932 census which had shown that Christians were 54% of
the population is used as the basis for the distribution of seats in
the Chamber of Deputies (later known as the National Assembly) on a
ratio of six to five (later extended to other public offices). The
president is to be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni
Muslim and the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies a Shia Muslim.
1943 November-December
- Free French forces detain members of the recently-appointed
government, which had declared an end to the mandate, before releasing
them on 22 November, henceforth known as independence day. France
agrees to transfer power to the Lebanese government from 1 January
1944.
1957 - President
Kamil Shamun accepts the Eisenhower Doctrine, announced in January,
which offers US economic and military aid to Middle Eastern countries
to counteract Soviet influence in the region.
1958 14 July -
Faced with increasing opposition which develops into a civil war,
President Shamun asks the US to send troops to preserve Lebanon's
independence.
1958 15 July - The
US, mindful of Iraq's overthrow of its monarchy, sends marines to
re-establish the government's authority.
1967 June - Lebanon
plays no active role in the Arab-Israeli war but is to be affected by
its aftermath when Palestinians use Lebanon as a base for activities
against Israel.
1968 28 December -
In retaliation for an attack by two members of the Popular Front for
the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) on an Israeli plane in Athens,
Israel raids Beirut airport, destroying 13 civilian planes.
1969 November -
Army Commander-in-Chief Emile Bustani and Palestine Liberation
Organisation (PLO) Chairman Yasser Arafat sign an agreement in Cairo
which aims to control Palestinian guerrilla activities in Lebanon.
1973 10 April -
Israeli commandos raid Beirut and kill three Palestinian leaders, close
associates of Arafat. The Lebanese government resigns the next day.
Civil
war begins
1975 13 April -
Phalangist gunmen ambush a bus in the Ayn-al-Rummanah district of
Beirut, killing 27 of its mainly Palestinian passengers. The
Phalangists claim that guerrillas had previously attacked a church in
the same district. (These clashes are regarded as the start of the
civil war).
1976 June - Syrian
troops enter Lebanon to restore peace but also to curb the Palestinians.
1976 October -
Following Arab summit meetings in Riyad and Cairo, a ceasefire is
arranged and a predominantly Syrian Arab Deterrent Force (ADF) is
established to maintain it.
Israel controls south
1978 14/15 March -
In reprisal for a Palestinian attack into its territory, Israel
launches a major invasion of Lebanon, occupying land as far north as
the Litani river.
1978 19 March - UN
Security Council (UNSC) passes Resolution 425, which calls on Israel to
withdraw from all Lebanese territory and establishes the United Nations
Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to confirm the Israeli withdrawal,
restore peace and help the Lebanese government re-establish its
authority in the area.
1978 - By 13 June
Israel hands over territory in southern Lebanon not to UNIFIL but to
its proxy mainly Christian Lebanese militia under Maj Sa'd Haddad.
Israel
attacks
1982 6 June -
Following the attempted assassination of Shlomo Argov, Israeli
ambassador to Britain, Israel launches a full-scale invasion of
Lebanon, "Operation Peace for Galilee".
1982 14 September -
President-elect, Bashir al-Jumayyil, is assassinated. The following
day, Israeli forces occupy West Beirut, and from 16 to 18 September,
the Phalangist militia kill Palestinians in Sabra and Shatila refugee
camps in West Beirut.
1982 21 September -
Bashir's elder brother, Amin al-Jumayyil, is elected president.
1982 24 September -
The first contingent of a mainly US, French and Italian peacekeeping
force, requested by Lebanon, arrives in Beirut.
Buffer zone set up
1983 17 May -
Israel and Lebanon sign an agreement on Israeli withdrawal, ending
hostilities and establishing a security region in southern Lebanon.
1983 23 October -
241 US marines and 56 French paratroopers are killed in two bomb
explosions in Beirut, responsibility for which is claimed by two
militant Shia groups.
1985 - By 6 June
most Israeli troops withdraw but some remain to support the mainly
Christian South Lebanon Army (SLA) led by Maj-Gen Antoine Lahd which
operates in a "security zone" in southern Lebanon.
1985 16 June - A
TWA plane lands in Beirut after having been hijacked on a flight from
Athens to Rome by two alleged members of Hezbollah demanding the
release of Shia in Israeli jails. The crisis is resolved with the help
of Syrian mediation.
1987 21 May -
Lebanon abrogates the 1969 Cairo agreement with the PLO as well as
officially cancelling the 17 May 1983 agreement with Israel.
1987 1 June - After
Prime Minister Rashid Karami is killed when a bomb explodes in his
helicopter, Salim al-Huss becomes acting prime minister.
Two governments, one country
1988 22 September -
When no candidate is elected to succeed him, outgoing President Amin
al-Jumayyil appoints a six-member interim military government, composed
of three Christians and three Muslims, though the latter refuse to
serve. Lebanon now has two governments - one mainly Muslim in West
Beirut, headed by Al-Huss, the other, Christian, in East Beirut, led by
the Maronite Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Gen Michel Awn.
1989 14 March - Awn
declares a "war of liberation " against the Syrian presence in Lebanon.
1989 28 July -
Shaykh Abd-al-Karim Ubayd, Hezbollah leader in Jibshit, is abducted by
Israeli forces.
1989 22 October -
The National Assembly, meeting in Ta'if, Saudi Arabia, endorses a
Charter of National Reconciliation, which reduces the authority of the
president by transferring executive power to the cabinet. The National
Assembly now has an equal number of Christian and Muslim members
instead of the previous six to five ratio.
1989 November -
President-elect Rene Mu'awwad is assassinated on 22 November and
succeeded by Ilyas al-Hirawi on 24 November. The following day, Salim
al-Huss becomes prime minister and Gen Emile Lahoud replaces Awn as
Commander-in-Chief of the Army on 28 November.
Civil
war ends
1990 13 October -
The Syrian air force attacks the Presidential Palace at B'abda and Awn
takes refuge in the French embassy. This date is regarded as the end of
the civil war.
1990 24 December -
Umar Karami heads a government of national reconciliation.
1991 - The National
Assembly orders the dissolution of all militias by 30 April but
Hezbollah is allowed to remain active and the South Lebanon Army (SLA)
refuses to disband.
1991 22 May - A
Treaty of Brotherhood, Cooperation and Coordination is signed in
Damascus by Lebanon and Syria and a Higher Council, co-chaired by their
two presidents, is established.
1991 1 July - The
Lebanese army defeats the PLO in Sidon so that it now confronts the
Israelis and the SLA in Jazzin, north of the so-called "security zone".
1991 26 August -
The National Assembly grants an amnesty for all crimes committed during
the civil war, 1975-1990. Awn receives a presidential pardon and is
allowed to leave for France.
1991 30 October -
Lebanon participates in the Middle East Peace Conference launched in
Madrid.
1992 16 February -
Shaykh Abbas al-Musawi, Secretary-General of Hezbollah, is killed when
Israeli helicopter gunships attack his motorcade on a road south-east
of Sidon
By 17 June 1992 all
Western hostages held by Shia groups have been released.
1992 20 October -
After elections in August and September (the first since 1972), Nabih
Birri, secretary-general of the Shia Amal organisation, becomes speaker
of the National Assembly.
1992 31 October -
Rafik Hariri, a rich businessman, born in Sidon but with Saudi Arabian
nationality, becomes prime minister, heading a cabinet of technocrats.
1993 25 July -
Israel attempts to end the threat from Hezbollah and the Popular Front
for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) in southern
Lebanon by launching "Operation Accountability", the heaviest attack
since 1982.
1994 21 May -
Mustafa Dib al-Dirani, head of the Believers' Resistance, a breakaway
group from the Shia Amal organisation, is abducted by Israeli commandos
from his house in eastern Lebanon.
Israel
bombs Beirut
1996 11 April -
"Operation Grapes of Wrath", in which the Israelis bomb Hezbollah bases
in southern Lebanon, the southern district of Beirut and the Biqa.
1996 18 April - An
Israeli attack on a UN base at Qana results in the death of over 100
Lebanese refugees sheltering there.
1996 26 April - US
negotiates a truce and an "understanding" under which Hezbollah and
Palestinian guerrillas agree not to attack civilians in northern
Israel, and which recognises Israel's right to self-defence but also
Hezbollah's right to resist the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon.
Lebanon and Syria do not sign the "understanding" but the
Israel-Lebanon Monitoring Group (ILMG), with members from the US,
France, Israel, Lebanon and Syria, is set up to monitor the truce.
1998 1 April -
Israel's inner cabinet votes to accept UN Security Council Resolution
425 of 1978 if Lebanon guarantees the security of Israel's northern
border. Both Lebanon and Syria reject this condition.
1998 4 December -
Salim al-Huss becomes prime minister heading a cabinet which includes
no militia leaders and only two ministers from the previous
administration.
1999 3 June - South
Lebanon Army (SLA) completes its withdrawal from the Jazzin salient
(north of the "security zone") occupied since 1985.
2000 5 March -
Israeli cabinet votes for the unilateral withrawal of Israeli troops
from southern Lebanon by July 2000.
2000 18 April -
Israel releases 13 Lebanese prisoners held without trial for more than
10 years but extends the detention of Shaykh Abd-al-Karim Ubayd and
Mustafa Dib al-Dirani.
Israeli withdrawal
2000 24 May - After
the collapse of the SLA and the rapid advance of Hezbollah forces,
Israel withdraws its troops from southern Lebanon, more than six weeks
before its stated deadline of 7 July.
2000 25 May - 25 May
declared an annual public holiday, called "Resistance and Liberation
Day".
2000 October -
Rafik Hariri takes office as prime minister for a second time.
2001 March -
Lebanon begins pumping water from a tributary of the River Jordan to
supply a southern border village despite opposition from Israel.
2002 January - Elie
Hobeika, a key figure in the massacres of Palestinian refugees in 1982,
dies in a blast shortly after disclosing that he held videotapes and
documents challenging Israel's account of the massacres.
2002 September -
Row with Israel over Lebanon's plan to divert water from a border
river. Israel says it cannot tolerate the diversion of the Wazzani,
which provides 10% of its drinking water, and threatens the use of
military force.
2003 August - Car
bomb in Beirut kills a member of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group.
Hezbollah and a government minister blame Israel for the blast.
2004 September - UN
Security Council resolution - aimed at Syria - demands that foreign
troops leave Lebanon. Syria dismisses the move.
2005 February -
Former prime minister Rafik Hariri is killed by a car bomb in Beirut.
The attack sparks anti-Syrian rallies and the resignation of Prime
Minister Omar Karami's cabinet. Calls for Syria to withdraw its troops
intensify.
2005: Syrian troops
leave Lebanese soil
2005 March -
Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese attend pro- and anti-Syrian rallies
in Beirut.
2005 April - Omar
Karami resigns as PM after failing to form a government. He is
succeeded by moderate pro-Syrian MP Najib Mikati.
2005 June -
Prominent journalist Samir Qasir, a critic of Syrian influence, is
killed by a car bomb.
2005 July -
Lebanese PM Siniora meets Syria's President Assad; both sides agree to
rebuild relations.
2005 September -
Four pro-Syrian generals are charged over the assassination of former
PM Rafik Hariri.
2005 December -
Prominent anti-Syrian MP and journalist Gibran Tueni is killed by a car
bomb.
2006 February -
Denmark's embassy in Beirut is torched during a demonstration against
cartoons in a Danish paper satirising the Prophet Muhammad.
2006 July - Israel
launches an assault in southern Lebanon and imposes an air and sea
blockade after Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group captures two Israeli
soldiers.
See also
Hizbollah and Israel
Hizbollah
Hamas
Fatah
Should we be nice to radical
Islam?
Leaderless resistance
Israel
Hamas in power and how to deal with it
Hamas makes strong showing in vote
The Hamas Covenant
Hamas, the PA and money
Israel gambles
Israel loosing support
Israeli army
practices condemned
What about Iran and
Israel?
An amazing or shitty
little country?
The Muslim Brotherhood
Project
The Barrier
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