lange militiamen into the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps the previous Septem-
ber. Sharon resigns as defense minister but remains in the cabinet as a minister
without portfolio.
April 18:The U.S. embassy in Beirut is destroyed by a large car bomb; 63 people
(including 17 Americans) are killed and more than 100 wounded. Islamic Jihad, a
pro-Iranian group, claims responsibility.
May:Factional conflicts erupt between Palestinian fighters who have re-infiltrated into
Lebanon.
May 17:Israel and Lebanon sign the second treaty between Israel and an Arab nation.
June 24:PLO chairman Yasir Arafat is expelled from Damascus, where he had gone
after leaving Lebanon in the previous December, and heads to Tripoli, Lebanon,
where his Fatah faction is based.
August 28:Israeli prime minister Begin says he will resign for personal reasons.
September 12:In Israel, coalition partners agree on a new cabinet under Yitzhak Shamir.
October 23:Near-simultaneous bomb attacks in Beirut kill 241 U.S. service personnel
and 58 French servicemen serving in the international peacekeeping force in
Lebanon. U.S. officials blame Islamist guerrillas backed by Iran.
November 4:A truck bomb hits Israeli military headquarters in Tyre, Lebanon, killing
60 people, including Israeli soldiers and Arab prisoners.
November 23:PLO factions battling since May agree to a Saudi-brokered cease-fire
that allows Arafat and his supporters to evacuate Tripoli, Lebanon.
November 24:Israel swaps 4,500 Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners for 6 Israeli sol-
diers held by the PLO.
December 4:One day after a Syrian attack on U.S reconnaissance planes, the United
States attacks Syrian positions in eastern Lebanon. Two U.S. planes are shot down;
one pilot is killed and another captured.
December 14:U.S. warships extensively shell Syrian positions in Lebanon.
December 20:Aboard Greek ships flying UN flags, Arafat and about 4,000 Palestin-
ian fighters leave Tripoli, Lebanon, for Tunis, where the PLO will be based for more
than ten years.
1984
February 7:Less than four months after saying U.S. peacekeepers would remain in
Lebanon, President Reagan announces that U.S. troops have been “redeployed” to
ships off the Lebanese coast. The last U.S. troops will leave Beirut on February 21.
Britain and Italy also withdraw their forces from the international peacekeeping
force.
March 5:Lebanon abrogates the treaty signed with Israel in May 1983.
June 23:The Lebanese government restructures the national army to make it more
representative of Christian and Muslim communities.
July 4:A revamped Lebanese army begins taking control of Beirut from the various
militias and destroys a wall, known as the Green Line, that had separated Christian
and Muslim neighborhoods.
July 23:Israeli elections end in a virtual deadlock, with neither Labor nor Likud win-
ning enough seats to form a stable coalition.
September 13:After July’s inconclusive elections in Israel, the Labor and Likud parties
agree to share power. Labor leader Shimon Peres will be prime minister for two
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