The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) had invaded Lebanon in June 1982 with the goal of pushing out the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). After newly-elected President Bashir Gemayel was assassinated on September 14th, the IDF invaded West Beirut, which included the Sabra neighborhood and the Shatila refugee camp, which predominately housed Muslim refugees. The IDF ordered their allies in Lebanon, the Kataeb Party (also called the Phalange), a right-wing Maronite Christian party, to clear the area of PLO militants to facilitate the IDF advance.
On the night of September 16th, Phalange militants entered the camp and began to massacre refugees. The killing continued throughout the night until a halt was called by the IDF the next day. Since the massacre, there have been several investigations into Israeli involvement and whether or not an order to kill civilians came from the Israeli government. A commission by the Israelis shortly after the massacre found that the IDF had not called for the attack but had not made adequate attempts to stop it after learning of the situation.
Robert Dillon was the Ambassador to Lebanon and recalls the events which led up to the massacre during a 1990 interview with Charles Stuart Kennedy. Anne Dammarell was a USAID (United States Agency for International Development) officer in Beirut at the time, and visited Sabra and Shatila shortly after the massacre took place. She recounts that trip to Charles Stuart Kennedy in 2013.
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