1978 conflict within the Lebanese Civil War
The
Hundred Days War
(
Arabic
:
??? ????? ???
,
Harb Al-Mia'at Yaoum,
French
: La Guerre des Cent Jours) was a subconflict within the
1977?82 phase of the Lebanese Civil War
which occurred in the Lebanese capital
Beirut
. It was fought between the allied
Christian
Lebanese Front
militias, under the command of the
Kataeb Party
's President
Bachir Gemayel
, and the Syrian troops of the
Arab Deterrent Force
(ADF).
Background
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]
|
---|
First phase: 1975?1977
Second phase: 1977?1982
Third phase: 1982?1984
Fourth phase: 1984?1990
Cantons and puppet states
|
In January 1976, the
Phalange
joined the main Christian parties ?
National Liberal Party
(NLP),
Lebanese Renewal Party
(LRP),
Marada Brigade
,
Al-Tanzim
, and others ? in a loose coalition, the
Lebanese Front
, designed to act as a political counterweight to the predominantly
Muslim
Lebanese National Movement
(LNM) ?
Palestine Liberation Organization
(PLO) alliance. In order to deal with the
Syrian military intervention of June 1976
and better coordinate the military operations of their respective militias, Christian militia leaders agreed to form in August that year a joint military command (a.k.a. the "Command Council") whose new collective name was the "Lebanese Forces" (LF).
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
From the very beginning, it became clear that the Lebanese Front's Command Council was dominated by the
Phalange
and its KRF militia under the charismatic leadership of
Bachir Gemayel
, who sought to unify the various Christian militias. From 1977 onwards, Bachir began implementing the controversial "unification of the rifle" policy, using the LF to build a new power base for himself, distinct from that of the Phalange or any of the other traditional rightist parties.
[5]
However, Bachir's actions soon put him on a direct collision course with Syria. Relations between the LF command and
Damascus
had already become frosty as a consequence of the ADF's growing unwillingness to either suppress the LNM-PLO alliance militias in west Beirut altogether or allow the Christian militias to do so.
History
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The hundred days' war
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]
July 1978
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After a series of bomb attacks that rocked Beirut on early July 1978, the ADF stepped up its security measures by increasing the number of patrols and checkpoints in the streets. On the 7th, Lebanese soldiers belonging to the
Army of Free Lebanon
(AFL) ? a breakaway faction of the
Lebanese Army
led by the rightist dissident
Colonel
Antoine Barakat
? objected to the ADF establishing a checkpoint near their HQ at the main
Fayadieh
barracks, a fortress-like military facility located in the namesake Christian district.
The ADF detachment, which comprised twenty Syrian regular soldiers, refused to move out, causing an argument which ended with a shootout on which 19 people lost their lives. The Syrian soldiers were taken prisoner by the AFL regulars and held hostage at Fayadieh barracks, and the situation grew tenser that dawn when the bodies of two slain Christians were found nearby.
The next day, Syrian ADF infantry units backed by artillery surrounded and bombarded the AFL fortified barracks, setting part of the complex on fire.
Kataeb Regulatory Forces
'Commando' troops under the command of
Bachir Gemayel
and the
Tigers Militia
led by
Dany Chamoun
were drawn into the action against the Syrians. That afternoon the Syrian Army shelled Achrafieh and attacked the Tigers' HQ, located at the Sodeco quarter in
Achrafieh
. The fighting soon spread to east of
Beirut
and
Mount Lebanon
. The Syrians took some high-rise buildings such as the Burj Rizk in Achrafieh and the Burj El-Murr using snipers and heavy weapons against civilians. The soldiers stayed for 90 days.
Another major clash took place near the Sodeco area in Achrafieh where the Christian militias fought ferociously and drove the Syrians out of the Rizk Building.
[6]
This threatened the 4th Mechanized brigade of encirclement and capture by the Maronite militias.
[6]
September 1978
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]
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October 1978
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In October, rightist leaders accused the ADF of bias when it intervened to contain the clashes across the
Green Line
between the Christian-held
Ain el-Rammaneh
and Muslim-held
Chyah
districts of Beirut.
Consequences
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However, the LF attack on the pro-Syrian
Marada Brigade
militia of the
Frangieh Clan
that summer, which culminated in the infamous
Ehden massacre
, provoked another round of fighting in June?July. President
Elias Sarkis
threatened to resign in protest over the Syrian bombardment of East Beirut, but later withdrew his resignation when the shelling stopped.
More fighting erupted in the fall, again followed by a ceasefire. In October 1978, the
Foreign Ministers
of
Lebanon
and those
Arab League
states contributing to the ADF ?
Syria
,
Saudi Arabia
,
Kuwait
,
Sudan
,
Qatar
and the
UAE
? met at the town of
Beiteddine
, in the
Chouf District
south-east of Beirut. The outcome of the meeting was essentially a reaffirmation of the role of the ADF and a strong condemnation of those dealing with
Israel
.
[7]
This meeting, and subsequent discussions between Syria and Saudi Arabia led to the lifting of the siege of Achrafieh by the Syrians and the withdrawal of all Syrian troops from East Beirut, being replaced by Saudi and Sudanese ADF troops, whom the
Lebanese Front
leaders viewed as more impartial and less hostile towards the Christians than the Syrian forces. The settlement was welcomed by the
Lebanese Front
parties and marked the end of the clashes.
See also
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References
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]
- ^
Randal,
Going All the Way
(2012), pp. 109?155.
- ^
Middle East Report
(MER), 31 January 1981, pp. 9?11.
- ^
Middle East Report
(MER), 20 June 1981, pp. 13?17.
- ^
Lewis W. Snider, "The Lebanese Forces: Wartime Origins and Political Significance," Middle East Journal 38, 4 (Winter 1984).
- ^
Rabinovich,
The war for Lebanon
(1989), p. 71.
- ^
a
b
"- YouTube"
.
YouTube
. Archived from
the original
on 2016-03-08
. Retrieved
2016-03-16
.
- ^
Text of the Beit ed-Dine declaration in
Middle East Report
(MER), October 21, 1978, pp. 17?18.
Bibliography
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]
- Edgar O'Ballance
,
Civil War in Lebanon, 1975?92
, Palgrave Macmillan, London 1998.
ISBN
0333729757
- Itamar Rabinovich
,
The war for Lebanon, 1970?1985
, Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London 1989 (revised edition).
ISBN
978-0801493133
- Joseph Hokayem,
L'armee libanaise pendant la guerre: un instrument du pouvoir du president de la Republique (1975?1985)
, Lulu.com, Beyrouth 2012.
ISBN
978-1291036602
, (in
French
) ?
L'armee libanaise pendant la guerre: un instrument du pouvoir du president de la Republique (1975?1985)
- Jonathan Randall,
Going All the Way: Christian Warlords, Israeli Adventurers and the War in Lebanon
, Just World Books 2012.
ISBN
978-1935982166
- Moustafa El-Assad,
Civil Wars Volume 1: The Gun Trucks
, Blue Steel books, Sidon 2008.
ISBN
9953-0-1256-8
- Rex Brynen,
Sanctuary and Survival: the PLO in Lebanon
, Boulder: Westview Press, Oxford 1990.
ISBN
0861871235
?
Sanctuary and Survival: The PLO in Lebanon
- Paul Jureidini, R. D. McLaurin, and James Price,
Military operations in selected Lebanese built-up areas, 1975?1978
, Aberdeen, MD: U.S. Army Human Engineering Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Technical Memorandum 11-79, June 1979.
- Samer Kassis,
30 Years of Military Vehicles in Lebanon
, Beirut: Elite Group, 2003.
ISBN
9953007055
- Samer Kassis,
Vehicules Militaires au Liban/Military Vehicles in Lebanon 1975?1981
, Trebia Publishing, Chyah 2012.
ISBN
978-9953023724
External links
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