Sabra and Shatila massacre
the killing of between 460 and 3,500 Christians, mostly Arab Palestinians in Beirut, Lebanon; during the1982 Lebanon War
From 16 to 18 September 1982, between 1,300 and 3,500 civilians—mostly Palestinians and Lebanese Shias—were killed in Beirut's Sabra neighbourhood and the adjacent Shatila refugee camp by the Lebanese Forces, one of the main Christian militias in Lebanon, with the support of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
In June 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon with the intention of rooting out the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). By 30 August 1982, under the supervision of the Multinational Force, the PLO withdrew from Lebanon following weeks of battles in West Beirut and shortly before the massacre took place. The Lebanese president Bashir Gemayel banned the Lebanese Forces from operating in Beirut, replacing their positions with the Lebanese army. On 11 September 1982, the multinational force withdrew from Lebanon, and the Lebanese army entered parts of West Beirut to restore civil order but did not enter the Palestinian camps. Various forces—Israeli, Lebanese Forces and possibly also the South Lebanon Army (SLA)—were in the vicinity of Sabra and Shatila at the time of the slaughter, taking advantage of the fact that the Multinational Force had removed barracks and mines that had encircled Beirut's predominantly Muslim neighborhoods and kept the Israelis at bay during the siege of Beirut. On 14 September, Bashir was assassinated by a Syrian Social Nationalist Party militant under the orders of the Syrian regime, and taking advantage of the power vacuum Israel occupied west Beirut the following day. The Israeli advance over West Beirut in the wake of the PLO withdrawal, which enabled the Lebanese Forces raid, was in violation of the ceasefire agreement between the various forces.
The killings are widely believed to have taken place under the command of Lebanese politician Elie Hobeika, whose family and fiancée had been murdered by Palestinian militants and left-wing Lebanese militias during the Damour massacre in 1976, itself a response to the Karantina massacre of Palestinians and Lebanese Shias at the hands of Christian militias. In total, between 300 and 400 militiamen were involved in the massacre, including some from the South Lebanon Army.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Sabra and Shatila massacre” as the killing of between 460 and 3,500 Christians, mostly Arab Palestinians in Beirut, Lebanon; during the1982 Lebanon War. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the history & society register because the source frames it as the killing of between 460 and 3,500 Christians, mostly Arab Palestinians in Beirut, Lebanon; during the1982 Lebanon War. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q208199. The Library of Congress control number is sh2007010413. Authority coordinates are 33.863, 35.498. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1982 and 1976.
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This entry incorporates text from “Sabra and Shatila massacre” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.