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William Hawi وليم حاوي | |
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| Former chief of the Kataeb Security Council | |
| Succeeded by | Bashir Gemayel |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 5, 1908 New York City, United States |
| Died | July 13, 1976 (aged 67) Tel al-Zaatar, Beirut, Lebanon |
| Nationality | Lebanese, American |
| Political party | Kataeb Party |
William Amine Hawi (also written: William Haoui, Arabic: وليم أمين حاوي; September 5, 1908 – July 13, 1976) was a Lebanese commander of the Kataeb Party, better known in English as the Phalange, a right-wing Christian political party in Lebanon.
He was Head of the second and Fourth Districts, President of the Recruitment Bureau, Head of the Department of Security, Sport and Mobilization on May 29, 1952, and member of the Political Bureau on July 12, 1952. On June 16, 1958, William Hawi was in charge of organizing and leading the activists during the Lebanese events; this constituted the hub of the Party's Regulatory Forces. On January 23, 1961, the Political Bureau dissolved the militants' organization before including its members in the Lebanese Phalange Party and Hawi created the Regulatory Forces. On February 6, 1961, William Hawi was appointed Head of said Forces. In 1963, the "First Commandos" unit was created. It was followed by the "Second Commandos" unit, then by the "B.G" troop. In 1973, the "Maghaweer" platoon was created and the "Combat School" established. Moreover, "Chef" William (which means "leader" in French), supervised the setting up of camps as well as the training organization and development, which enabled the progress of the regulatory process.
In 1952, the Lebanese Phalange put William Hawi up for the Beirut Municipal Council in the Achrafieh-Rmeil region, where he obtained the largest number of votes. In 1957, Hawi presented himself to the legislative elections but failed.
In 1975, Hawi was leading operations against the Palestinians fighting in Lebanon at the Souks of Beirut, Karantina, Jisr el Basha, Dekwaneh, Galerie Semaan and what is known as the "Battle of the Hotels".
On July 1, 1976, sources of the Kataeb Party announced the fall of the last bastion in Tel el-Zaatar and declared that the Head of the Phalange War Council supervised this operation.[1]
On July 13, 1976, William Hawi was killed by a Palestinian sniper following this victory.[1] Following his death, Bashir Gemayel was appointed his replacement as president of the Kataeb Military Council, which later became the core of the Lebanese Forces.