to elect a new president (a post traditionally reserved for a Maronite). Since the Lebanese constitution states that in the event of a presidential vacancy, the outgoing president appoint a temporary prime minister to act as president, outgoing president Gemayel decided to appoint Maronite army commander Michel Aoun to that office, notwithstanding the tradition of reserving it for a Sunni Muslim. Al-Hoss refused to concede the prime minister's post to Aoun, so the two ended up heading rival administrations; with Aoun occupying the presidential palace at Baabda, Hoss established his own office in Muslim-dominated West Beirut. Lebanon was thus left with no president and two rival governments: one constitutional and the other recognized by many states. However, although Syria, at the time occupying much of Lebanon, supported Hoss, and although Hoss' cabinet was already operational, most of the international community dealt with administrations on both sides of the Green Line and recognized both as Lebanon's prime ministers even though, constitutionally speaking, Aoun was the lawfully-appointed prime minister and acting president of Lebanon. Violent conflict between the two prime ministers soon arose over Michel Aoun's refusal to accept the presence of Syrian troops in Lebanon. In competition with Aoun, Hoss remained acting president from 1988 until 5 November 1989, when René Moawad took office. When Moawad was assassinated seventeen days later, Hoss reprised his role as acting president for two days, at which point Elias Hrawi was elected to succeed Moawad. In 1990, the civil war ended when Aoun was forced to surrender following an attack on the presidential palace by Syrian and Lebanese military forces. Hoss subsequently resigned as prime minister, in favour of Omar Karami. Retirement On 2 May 2017, aged 87, Hoss took part in a one-day hunger strike in a show of solidarity with the ongoing hunger strike of some 1,500 Palestinian prisoners. Bibliography The Development of Lebanon as Financial Market (in English), 1974. Window on the Future (in Arabic), 1981. Lebanon: Agony and Peace (in English), 1982. Lebanon at the Crossroads (in Arabic), 1983. Dots on the Is (in Arabic), 1987. A War Among Victims (in Arabic), 1988. On the Road to a New Republic (In Arabic), 1991. The Epoch of Resolution and Whim (in Arabic), 1991. A Time of Hope and Disappointment (in Arabic), 1992. Reminiscences and Lessons (in Arabic), 1994. For Fact and History (in Arabic), 2001. Nationalist Landmarks (in Arabic), 2002. Face-to-Face with