page_title: Battle of the Hotels
section_title: October 1975
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of the Hotels / The Battle of the Hotels / October 1975
caption_attribution_description: English: Beirut, Lebanon: part of Rue Minet al Hosn, where Rafik Hariri was assassinated on February 14, 2005. The photo was taken on July 22, 2005 when investigation still wasn't completed and the street was "conserved" and closed. Slovenščina: Bejrut, Libanon: del ulice Rue Minet al Hosn, kjer je bil 14.2.2005 izveden atentat na Rafika Haririja. Fotografija je bila posneta 22.7.2005, ko preiskava atentata še ni bila končana in je zato ulica bila zaprta in "konzervirana".
context_page_description: The Battle of the Hotels, also known as the "Hotel front" or "Front des Hotels" in French, was a subconflict within the 1975–77 phase of the Lebanese Civil War which occurred in the Minet-el-Hosn hotel district of downtown Beirut. This area was one of the first fronts of the war that began in April 1975.
  The battle was fought for the possession of a small hotel complex, the St. Charles City Center, adjacent to the gilded Corniche seafront area on the Mediterranean, in the north-western corner of the downtown district of Beirut, and it quickly spread to other areas of central Beirut. The often fierce battles that ensued were fought with heavy exchanges of rocket and artillery fire from the various hotel rooftops and rooms. Sniper fire was commonly utilized.
context_section_description: The first rounds were exchanged on October 23, 1975, during the final phase of the Battle for the Kantari District, when a detachment of fighters – nicknamed the "Hawks of az-Zeidaniyya" (Arabic: صقور الزيدانية | Suqūr az-Zaydānīya) – from the Al-Mourabitoun, the militia of the Independent Nasserite Movement (INM) led by Ibrahim Kulaylat occupied the empty Murr Tower after they managed to dislodge its Christian Phalange Kataeb Regulatory Forces (KRF) defenders, and began firing rockets and mortars from the upper floors into the Christian-held neighborhoods below. During the battle, the Al-Mourabitoun reportedly committed some 200–300 fighters, even though other sources cite a higher number of 500. The majority of the buildings were usually defended by an even smaller number of fighters, with no more than 60 militiamen participating on any given day.
  On October 26, the fighting in Kantari between the Muslim-leftist Lebanese National Movement (LNM) and Christian-rightist Lebanese Front militias spread to the Hotel district.  The first hotel/restaurant to be burned down was the Austrian Myrtom House, located next to the Haigazian College in the Rue du Mexique. Customers, including three foreign diplomats, and staff were temporarily held hostage and then released, though two employees are still on the missing list.
  As a counter-move, Christian fighters of the Phalange KRF militia headed by William Hawi and Bashir Gemayel began to take positions between and around the main hotels, but quickly found themselves at a disadvantage as they were under constant observation and heavy machine gun fire from the Murr Tower. The Phalangists attempted – with little success – to silence and reduce the Murr Tower by directing small-arms fire at it from the Rizk Tower and Achrafieh.  On October 27, backed by a small squadron made up of five makeshift armored cars, the Phalangists then moved into the Holiday Inn and the Phoenicia, while militiamen of the NLP Tigers Militia headed by Dany Chamoun moved into the St Georges Hotel.  A fierce five-day gun-battle between the INM, Phalange and NLP Tigers ensued, in which the Christian militias also attempt to retake the Murr Tower from its Muslim defenders in Kantari without success.
  The situation deteriorated further on October 28, when a shooting incident occurred on the steps of the Parliament House at Nejmeh Square in Christian-controlled territory. One car filled with Muslim militiamen from West Beirut managed to reach the Parliament building and after shouting slogans over a loudspeaker against the members of the Assembly, they opened fire on the deputies leaving the building after attending a parliamentary session. Two men were killed, one being a bodyguard of Phalange Leader Pierre Gemayel. He had been standing nearby at that moment, but was not harmed.
  Nevertheless, a ceasefire was called upon the belligerents by Prime Minister Rachid Karami on October 29, in order to allow the evacuation of the staff and residents trapped in the hotels, such as the Holiday Inn which held more than 200 people, most of them tourists. The evacuation operation was carried out by a motorized Gendarmerie detachment sent by the Internal Security Forces (ISF), using their Chaimite V200 armored cars and loaned M113 and Panhard M3 VTT armored personnel carriers (APCs) by the Lebanese Army, and fighting resumed as soon as the operation had been completed. Another ceasefire was arranged on October 31 to enable the evacuees to return to collect their belongings, if they so wished.
caption: Ruins of the St Georges Hotel, on the right in 2005
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