Battle of the Hotels

Battle of the Hotels
Part of the Lebanese Civil War
The ruined Holiday Inn Beirut in the hotel district of Beirut, with the Phoenicia in front of it on the right in 2009
Date 23 October 1975 – 2 April 1976 Location Beirut Result Lebanese Front victory Division of Beirut along East-West Expulsion of Muslim/Leftist militias and civilians from East Beirut Holiday Inn comes under control of the LNM
Belligerents
Lebanese National Movement Al-Mourabitoun Progressive Socialist Party Popular Liberation Forces Lebanese Communist Party Popular Guard Organization of Communist Action in Lebanon (OCAL) Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party of Lebanon Socialist Arab Lebanon Vanguard Party SSNP Nasserite Correctionist Movement ASALA PLO Fatah Movement PFLP DFLP Palestine Liberation Front As-Sa'iqa Lebanese Arab Army	Lebanese Front Kataeb Party Kataeb Regulatory Forces National Liberal Party Tigers Militia Marada Brigade Al-Tanzim Guardians of the Cedars Lebanese Youth Movement (MKG) Army of Free Lebanon Internal Security Forces
Commanders and leaders
Ibrahim Kulaylat Kamal Jumblatt George Hawi Muhsin Ibrahim Assem Qanso Inaam Raad Hagop Hagopian Yasser Arafat Zuheir Mohsen George Habash Nayef Hawatmeh Ahmed al-Khatib	Pierre Gemayel Bachir Gemayel William Hawi Camille Chamoun Dany Chamoun Etienne Saqr Tony Franjieh Obad Zouein Fawzi Mahfouz Bashir el-Khoury Saad Haddad Antoine Barakat
Strength
LNM: ~1,500 PLO: ~500 Lebanese Arab Army: ~300	LF: ~1,500
Casualties and losses
300 dead and 500 wounded	500 dead and 750 wounded

The Battle of the Hotels (Arabic: معركة الفنادق, Maʿrakah al-Fanādiq) was a subconflict within the 1975–77 phase of the Lebanese Civil War that occurred in the Minet-el-Hosn hotel district of downtown Beirut. This area was one of the first major battles 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.