40 years since the Sabra and Shatila massacre

Today, Friday, marks the 40th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, which was carried out against Palestinian refugees on this day in 1982.


The Israeli occupation forces, the so-called South Lebanon Army, and the Lebanese Phalange Party committed the massacre against the refugees in the Sabra and Shatila camps, over a period of 3 days.


There are conflicting numbers of the victims, with estimates of the victims ranging from 750 to 3,500 martyrs, men, firefighters, women and elderly civilians, the majority of whom are victims, including Lebanese.


At that time, the camp was completely surrounded by the South Lebanon Army and the Israeli occupation army, which was under the command of Ariel Sharon and Raphael Eitan. The leadership of the Lebanese forces was under the command of Elie Hobeika, the influential Phalangist official. The Lebanese forces entered the camp and began carrying out the massacre that shocked the world. White weapons and other weapons were used to kill the camp´s residents. The task of the Israeli army was to besiege the camp and illuminate it at night with flash bombs, preventing anyone from escaping and isolate the two camps from the world. Thus, Israel made the task easier for the Lebanese forces, and allowed the killing of Palestinians without losing a single bullet. 


Three teams entered the camp, each consisting of fifty armed men, to the camp under the pretext that there were 1500 Palestinian armed men inside the camp. The Lebanese Maronite groups closed in on the residents of the camp and began to kill civilians relentlessly. Children at the age of three and four were found drowned in their blood. Pregnant women had their stomachs cut open, and women were killed. Rape them before killing them, men and old men were slaughtered and killed, and everyone who tried to escape were killed, 48 hours of continuous killing and the sky of the camp covered with fire flares.


The Israeli mechanisms closed all escape entrances to the camp. Journalists and news agencies were not allowed to enter until after the massacre ended, when the world woke up to one of the most heinous disasters in human history.