Explainer: The Sabra & Shatila Massacre

On September 16, 1982, Christian Lebanese militiamen allied to Israel entered the Palestinian refugee camp of Shatila and the adjacent neighborhood of Sabra in Beirut under the watch of the Israeli army and began a slaughter that caused outrage around the world. Over the next day and a half, up to 3,500 Palestinian and Lebanese civilians, mostly women, children, and the elderly, were murdered in one of the worst atrocities in modern Middle Eastern history.

Quick Facts: Palestinian Refugees

Palestinian refugees are Palestinians who have been expelled from their homes and homeland during and after Israel’s establishment in 1948. Israel forcibly displaces Palestinians and prevents Palestinian refugees from returning as part of an effort to establish and maintain a Jewish majority state in Palestine/Israel.

Fact Sheet: Palestinian Refugees & The Right of Return Under International Law

In Their Own Words: Israeli Leaders on the Expulsion of Palestinians During Israel’s Establishment

"We must expel Arabs and take their places...and, if we have to use force-not to dispossess the Arabs of the Negev and Transjordan, but to guarantee our own right to settle in those places-then we have force at our disposal."