Muhammad in Medina an ambush for the Meccans at Badr. Aware of the plan, the Meccan caravan eluded the Muslims. Meanwhile, a force from Mecca was sent to protect the caravan. The force did not return home upon hearing that the caravan was safe. The battle of Badr began in March 624. Though outnumbered more than three to one, the Muslims won the battle, killing at least forty-five Meccans and taking seventy prisoners for ransom; only fourteen Muslims died. They had also succeeded in killing many of the Meccan leaders, including Abu Jahl. Muhammad himself did not fight, directing the battle from a
Battle of the Hotels Muslim-leftists took the Phoenicia. The following day Muslim militiamen moved back to the Murr Tower. No further important changes in real estate control within the Hotel district occurred until the last phase of the battle, though all the contenders managed to maintain their positions thanks to a Syrian-sponsored ceasefire called later on January 22. The Hotel district flared up again on March 17, the day when the LNM-PLO joint forces, backed by the Shi'ite Amal Movement militia and the Lebanese Arab Army (LAA) – a predominately Muslim splinter faction of the official Lebanese Army led by the dissident Sunni Lieutenant