An early pilot · A community project
QADIYA is an independent, noncommercial community project: an archive of Palestine’s history, built for the cause and open to everyone.
This is an early pilot. Its records were gathered with AI help from cited sources and are still being checked, so don’t rely on them yet, and tell us if something is wrong.
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مجزرة صبرا وشاتيلا
Date qualified16–18 September 1982
Shatila refugee camp
From the evening of 16 September to midday on 18 September 1982, Lebanese militias allied with Israel killed Palestinian and Lebanese civilians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut, while the Israeli army surrounded the camps. The dead are estimated at no fewer than 3,500.
Linked context in the legacy record
The PLO’s fighters left West Beirut from 11 August 1982 under an agreement. On 14 September the Lebanese Forces’ leader, Bashir Gemayel, was assassinated; the next day Israel entered West Beirut and surrounded the camps.
Link to this chapterPalQuest · Institute for Palestine Studies · section: Highlight text (Maher Charif)
Editorial paraphrase · enThe PLO left West Beirut from 11 August; Bashir Gemayel was assassinated on 14 September; Israel entered West Beirut the next day and surrounded the camps.
Link to this citationFor forty-three hours, from 6 p.m. on Thursday 16 September to 1 p.m. on Saturday 18 September, the Lebanese Forces militias, the South Lebanon Army and the Guardians of the Cedars killed the camps’ people under the supervision and protection of Israeli forces, which had surrounded the camps and closed the roads to them. Estimates of the dead vary; the encyclopedia says it is almost certain they were no fewer than 3,500.
Link to this chapterPalQuest · Institute for Palestine Studies · section: Massacres at Sabra and Shatila Refugee Camps
Editorial paraphrase · enForty-three hours of killing by the militias under the supervision and protection of Israeli forces; no fewer than 3,500 dead.
Link to this citationIsrael’s Kahan Commission reported on 7 February 1983. It held the Lebanese militias directly responsible and found the defence minister, Ariel Sharon, personally responsible for ignoring the danger. Sharon resigned on 14 February 1983.
Link to this chapterPalQuest · Institute for Palestine Studies · section: Related content
Editorial paraphrase · enThe Kahan report of 7 February 1983 found Sharon personally responsible for ignoring the danger; he resigned on 14 February 1983.
Link to this citationSources & evidence
Contextual sources are further reading. Precise supporting passages appear alongside the chapters.
article · PalQuest · Institute for Palestine Studies
Account by Maher Charif, Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question (Institute for Palestine Studies).
Reference metadata and an original summary only. No permission to copy or host the source’s text, photographs, audio or video is asserted.
photograph · Wikimedia Commons
The photograph shown with this event: The memorial at the mass grave, Beirut.
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/): shown with its credit; adaptations carry the same licence.
16–18 September 1982 · duration
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