On this day – 42 years since the Sabra and Shatila massacres
A Palestinian woman holds portraits of her slain children at an annual march in September 2004 to commemorate the Sabra and Shatila massacre
The Palestine Chronicle reports on 16 September 2024:
After besieging and bombarding the area for days, the Israeli-backed Lebanese phalange militias attacked, killing at least 3,000 Palestinian refugees and Lebanese civilians.
After the siege of the two camps on September 15, the Israeli army under the command of Ariel Sharon lit the skies with flares as armed Lebanese militias entered the camps through Israeli army lines and proceeded to kill everyone in their way, regardless of whether they were elderly, women, or children.
They also broke into the camp hospital and killed nurses, doctors and patients who escaped from the massacre.
Over three days, and under the watch of Sharon’s army, the militias proceeded with their slaughter until news of the massacre was leaked out of the camp and the horrifying pictures of the dead were seen throughout the world before pressure was exerted on Israel to stop the militias.
The 1983 Kahan Commission, established by the Israeli government, found that Sharon, who was Defense Minister at the time, bore “personal responsibility” for the massacre. Despite this, Sharon later became Prime Minister of Israel in 2001.
On December 16, 1982, the UN General Assembly condemned the massacre and declared it an act of genocide.