Sabra and Shatila: The Camps They Said Were Safe
From September 16 to 18, 1982, Lebanese Phalangist militiamen massacred Palestinian and Lebanese civilians in Beirut’s Sabra neighbourhood and the adjoining Shatila refugee camp. Israeli forces had surrounded the area, prevented residents from leaving, and enabled the militia’s entry. Institute for Palestine Studies: historical account by Maher Charif
Families had been promised protection. Instead, the camps became the site of a massacre.
This September marks 44 years since Sabra and Shatila. We remember the people murdered, those who survived, and the families left searching for loved ones.
Before the Massacre: Promises of Protection
Israel invaded Lebanon in June 1982 and laid siege to Beirut. An agreement that summer secured the departure of Palestine Liberation Organization fighters under the supervision of American, French, and Italian troops. It included assurances of protection for Palestinian civilians remaining in the city.
The multinational force withdrew before the massacre. On September 14, Lebanon’s president-elect, Bashir Gemayel, was assassinated. Israeli forces entered West Beirut the next morning and surrounded the refugee camps. Institute for Palestine Studies
The guarantees given to secure the fighters’ departure had left civilians dependent on protection that did not hold.
The Sabra and Shatila Massacre and Israel’s Role
The militia entered on the evening of September 16. Israeli forces supplied illumination over the camps after dark. Inside, armed men murdered residents and separated families. In testimony recorded by Leila Shahid, survivor Sobhia F. described men being taken from her family’s group. After the women and children were ordered onward, they heard gunfire. Leila Shahid, “The Sabra and Shatila Massacres: Eye-Witness Reports”
Israel’s involvement went beyond failing to intervene. Its military controlled the area and brought the Lebanese Forces militia into the camps. Historian Rashid Khalidi’s analysis of archival documents describes discussions between Israeli officials and militia leaders months before the massacre concerning the destruction and expulsion of the camps’ Palestinian population. Rashid Khalidi, Institute for Palestine Studies
Human Rights Watch describes the massacre as taking place with Israeli collusion and assistance. Naming the militia that committed the murders must also mean naming the Israeli forces that enabled them. Human Rights Watch
The Dead and the Missing
The full toll has never been established with certainty. Bodies remained beneath rubble and in unopened mass graves. Families buried relatives themselves. Others were taken away and never returned.
In her account, Leila Shahid cites journalist Amnon Kapeliouk’s estimate of 3,000 to 3,500 dead. She also records Palestinian researcher Bayan Nuwayhed al-Hout’s documentation of 1,390 named victims: 906 known dead and 484 missing. These are different forms of accounting, a broader estimate and a record of identified people, rather than interchangeable totals. Leila Shahid, Journal of Palestine Studies
Al-Hout gathered survivors’ testimony to establish what happened and recover the names of those lost. Her research preserved a record that extended beyond the bodies counted immediately after the massacre. Rashid Khalidi, Institute for Palestine Studies
Behind each name was a life, a family, and a place in the community. Uncertainty over the full number does not diminish those losses.
An Inquiry Without Criminal Justice
Israel’s Kahan Commission examined the conduct of Israel’s own political and military leadership. Its report led to Ariel Sharon leaving the defence ministry. It did not lead to a criminal trial.
Sharon remained in the cabinet and became prime minister in 2001. Survivors pursued a case against him in Belgium that year, but changes to Belgian law led to its dismissal in 2003. He died in 2014 without facing criminal justice for his role in Sabra and Shatila. Human Rights Watch
Lebanese militia leaders also escaped accountability. Elie Hobeika, who headed the Phalangist unit implicated in the massacre, later served in parliament and held government posts. Human Rights Watch reported that his role was never investigated before his assassination in 2002. Human Rights Watch
The survivors’ pursuit of justice cannot be measured by the conclusions of an Israeli state inquiry. Their testimony and their demands stand in their own right.
Why We Remember
Remembering Sabra and Shatila means listening to survivors and preserving the names of the dead and missing. It means stating who carried out the massacre and who enabled it.
It also means remembering people beyond their deaths. The camps were places where families raised children, neighbours knew one another, and daily life continued through displacement. Palestinian writer Zakaria al-Shaikh, who grew up in Shatila, wrote about the massacre to preserve something of the people he had known and lost. Zakaria al-Shaikh, “Sabra and Shatila 1982: Resisting the Massacre”
For The Olive Tree, Palestinian memory belongs in what we carry forward. We honour it by listening, learning, and refusing to let the people behind these histories disappear from view.
We remember the Palestinian and Lebanese people murdered in Sabra and Shatila. We honour the survivors and the families of the missing.
Their lives remain part of our memory. Their families’ demand for justice deserves to be heard.