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Short answer
The Sabra and Shatila massacre occurred from September 16–18, 1982, and was carried out by Lebanese Christian Phalangist militias, not by Israeli troops. There is no credible dispute on this point, including among Israel’s critics. Claims that Israel or Ariel Sharon ordered or directed the killings are unsupported by evidence.
The Phalangists had their own command structure and acted independently. When reports of atrocities emerged, the IDF intervened and stopped the violence. Israel’s own inquiry, the Kahan Commission, found no Israeli responsibility for committing the massacre, only indirect responsibility for failing to prevent it.
The attack was a revenge act following the assassination of Bachir Gemayel, yet Palestinian factions and groups like Hezbollah continue to repeat the false libel that Israel carried it out.
Long answer
The massacres at the Lebanese refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila took place from September 16 to 18, 1982. There is no serious dispute about who carried them out. The killings were committed by Lebanese Christian Phalangist militias, not by Israeli soldiers. Even critics of Israel acknowledge that the IDF did not enter the camps and did not fire on civilians there.
The false allegation centers on the claim that Israel ordered or directed the massacre. That claim is unsupported by evidence. The Phalangist militias were allied to Israel, but they had their own command structure and acted independently. Limited coordination existed only to avoid accidental clashes, not to direct operations inside the camps.
There is no proof that Ariel Sharon ordered, supervised, or even knew in advance about the planned killings. When reports of atrocities emerged, the IDF intervened and stopped the Phalangist operation. Israel itself launched a formal investigation into the events.
The Kahan Commission explicitly concluded that Israel did not commit the massacre. It found Israel bore indirect responsibility for failing to anticipate and prevent the violence. Menachem Begin was criticized for insufficient oversight, while Sharon was faulted for ignoring the risk of bloodshed, not for ordering murder.
The commission did not accuse any Israeli official of planning or carrying out the killings. Sabra and Shatila must be understood within Lebanon’s brutal civil war and long-running sectarian blood feuds. Similar massacres carried out by Arab militias occurred in Ehden, Karantina, Tel al-Zaatar, and Damour.
The Phalangist attack was a revenge act following the assassination of Lebanese president-elect Bachir Gemayel. Claims that Israel ordered or committed the Sabra and Shatila massacre are a political libel repeated by Palestinian factions, Hezbollah, and others despite decades of contrary evidence.
