On September 16, 1982, during the brief Israeli occupation of the Lebanese capital of Beirut, the fighters of the Phalange (a Maronite Christian militia group in Lebanon temporarily allied with Israel) entered Sabra and Shatila to seek revenge for the assassination of their leader Bashir Gemayel. They were reported to have slaughtered and raped many hundreds of civilians over a period of three days. Shatila, a Palestinian refugee camp, and nearby Sabra, a neighborhood populated by Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, were guarded at the time by the Israeli army during Israel’s “Operation Peace for Galilee” (War of 1982). Following the assassination, however, Phalange fighters were allowed to enter the camps. The residents had been left defenseless, owing to the recent expulsion of the Syrian army and Palestine Liberation Organization fighters from the Beirut area. Estimates of Palestinian deaths start at 800. When news of the massacre became public, an estimated 400,000 Israelis demonstrated in Tel Aviv, demanding an official inquiry. The Israeli government established the Kahan Commission, which found several Israeli officials indirectly responsible for the killings. Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Defense Minister, was forced to resign as a result. See Hartley, Cathy, ed. A Survey of Arab-Israeli Relations, 2nd ed. London and New York: Europa Publications, 2004. Shahid, Leila “The Sabra and Shatila Massacres: Eye-Witness Reports” Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Autumn, 2002), pp. 36-58; Herzog, Chaim. Arab-Israeli Wars. New York: Vintage Books, 2005; and “Flashback: Sabra and Shatila massacres.” 24 January 2002. BBC. 24 August 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1779713.stm.  http://www.justvision.org/glossary/sabra-and-shatila