43 years ago, and in just 3 days, from September 16-18, 1982, over 2,500 Palestinians and Lebanese in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut were massacred by the Lebanese Phalangist militia, supported by the Israeli army which had invaded Lebanon that year, in one of the most horrific events in Palestinian history.
In June 1982, the Israeli army, headed by Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, invaded Lebanon to destroy the Palestinian Liberation Movement (PLO) which was based in Lebanon then. The invasion made Palestinian refugees, who had fled to Lebanon following the Nakba in 1948 and were living in camps, targets of Israeli attacks, a situation that intensified when the Israeli military occupied Beirut and allied with Lebanese militias, paving the way for Sabra and Shatila massacre.
The international community heavily condemned the massacre, with the UN General Assembly voting to condemn it by a margin of 123 in favor, 0 against, and 22 abstentions. Nonetheless, the perpetrators were not held accountable. As the years passed, Ariel Sharon became Israel’s prime minister.
By commemorating the Sabra and Shatila massacre, Palestinians seek to honor the victims, preserve a historical record from being erased, and demand justice and accountability.
Today, with the war on Gaza still going on, taking the lives of more than 60,000 Palestinians, Palestinians wonder how can Israel be held accountable for the war crimes it committed, prevent such massacres from recurring?
Sources:
https://imeu.org/article/the-sabra-shatila-massacre
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/16/sabra-and-shatila-massacre-40-years-on-explainer
https://mondoweiss.net/2018/04/unhappy-history-massacres/ 
