The Sabra and Shatila Massacre

After a horrific attack on an Israeli family by a Lebanese teenager working with the Palestine Liberation Front (a faction of the PLO) in 1979, Israel looked for an ally to help create a secure buffer zone between itself and Lebanon. 

However, working with the  President-elect of Lebanon, Bashir Gemayel, proved to have deadly consequences. His paramilitary group, the Phalangists, massacred between 800 and 2,000 people in two Palestinian refugee camps called Sabra and Shatila. 

With the world in an uproar over the horrific news of this event, all fingers pointed blame towards Israel. Although the IDF entered Lebanon to stop the PLO’s terror, Israel accepted responsibility for the part it played in the dark story of Sabra and Shatila.