| | First, some twenty Phalangist militiamen were executed, and civilians were lined up against a wall and sprayed with machine-gun fire.<ref>Fisk, 2001, pp. 99–100.</ref> Among the killed were family members of '''Elie Hobeika''' and his fiancée.<ref>{{cite web|title=Elie Hobeika |url=http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/hobeika.html |work=moreorless : heroes & killers of the 20th century |publisher=www.moreorless.au.com |access-date=9 June 2021 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120805143542/http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/hobeika.html |archive-date=August 5, 2012 |df=mdy }}</ref> | | First, some twenty Phalangist militiamen were executed, and civilians were lined up against a wall and sprayed with machine-gun fire.<ref>Fisk, 2001, pp. 99–100.</ref> Among the killed were family members of '''Elie Hobeika''' and his fiancée.<ref>{{cite web|title=Elie Hobeika |url=http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/hobeika.html |work=moreorless : heroes & killers of the 20th century |publisher=www.moreorless.au.com |access-date=9 June 2021 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120805143542/http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/hobeika.html |archive-date=August 5, 2012 |df=mdy }}</ref> |
| | + | A ''joint coalition of [[Sai'qa]], [[Fatah]], [[PFLP]], PDFLP, the ''Mourabiton'' and left wing Muslim militias, began surrounding the Christian town of Damour (population 25,000). It had one public hospital where Muslims and Christians were treated equally. The commander of the assault, Zuheir-Mouhsein, was later known as "The Butcher of Damour". Assisting Mouhsein was Fatah commander Colonel Abu Musa... The siege of Damour began on January 9, 1976. According to British journalist Robert Fisk, Abu Musa actually led the attack.''<ref>[https://www.ict.org.il/Article/1036/PLO-Policy-towards-the-Christian-Community-during-the-Civil-War PLO Policy towards the Christian Community during the Civil War in Lebanon], ICT, May 7, 2008.</ref> |
| | [[NYT]]'s Thomas L. Friedman explains the Phalangist ''Damouri Brigade'', which carried out the ''Sabra and Shatila'' killing during the 1982 Lebanon War, sought revenge not only for the assassination of Bachir Gemayel but also for what he describes as past killings of their own people by Palestinians, including those at Damour.<ref>Friedman, 1998, p. 161.</ref><ref>Friedman, ''New York Times'', Sep 20, 21, 26, 27, 1982.</ref> | | [[NYT]]'s Thomas L. Friedman explains the Phalangist ''Damouri Brigade'', which carried out the ''Sabra and Shatila'' killing during the 1982 Lebanon War, sought revenge not only for the assassination of Bachir Gemayel but also for what he describes as past killings of their own people by Palestinians, including those at Damour.<ref>Friedman, 1998, p. 161.</ref><ref>Friedman, ''New York Times'', Sep 20, 21, 26, 27, 1982.</ref> |
| | According to an eyewitness, the attack took place from the mountain behind the town. "It was an apocalypse," said Father Mansour Labaky, a Christian Maronite priest who survived the massacre. "They were coming, '''thousands and thousands, shouting 'Allahu Akbar!''' (Allah is great!) '''Let us attack them for the Arabs, let us offer a holocaust to Mohammad!'''", and they were '''slaughtering''' everyone in their path, '''men, women and children'''."<ref>Israel undercover: secret warfare and hidden diplomacy in the Middle East By Steve Posner, {{ISBN|0-8156-0220-0}}, {{ISBN|978-0-8156-0220-0}}, p. 2</ref><ref>J. Becker: ''The PLO: The Rise and Fall of the Palestine Liberation Organization'', Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1984, p. 124 [https://books.google.com/books?&id=H7BtAAAAMAAJ&&q=holocaust] qtd in [https://books.google.com/books?id=hfK9SqHSaccC&pg=PA183] [https://books.google.com/books?id=6bEwc2FStIYC&pg=PA125]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ict.org.il/Articles/tabid/66/Articlsid/291/currentpage/4/Default.aspx |title=Articles > PLO Policy towards the Christian Community during the Civil War in Lebanon |publisher=ICT |access-date=2021-06-09}}</ref><ref>''The PLO: The Rise and Fall of the Palestine Liberation Organization'', Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1984, p. 124 [https://books.google.com/books?&id=H7BtAAAAMAAJ&&q=holocaust] qtd in [https://books.google.com/books?id=hfK9SqHSaccC&pg=PA183] [https://books.google.com/books?id=6bEwc2FStIYC&pg=PA125]</ref> | | According to an eyewitness, the attack took place from the mountain behind the town. "It was an apocalypse," said Father Mansour Labaky, a Christian Maronite priest who survived the massacre. "They were coming, '''thousands and thousands, shouting 'Allahu Akbar!''' (Allah is great!) '''Let us attack them for the Arabs, let us offer a holocaust to Mohammad!'''", and they were '''slaughtering''' everyone in their path, '''men, women and children'''."<ref>Israel undercover: secret warfare and hidden diplomacy in the Middle East By Steve Posner, {{ISBN|0-8156-0220-0}}, {{ISBN|978-0-8156-0220-0}}, p. 2</ref><ref>J. Becker: ''The PLO: The Rise and Fall of the Palestine Liberation Organization'', Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1984, p. 124 [https://books.google.com/books?&id=H7BtAAAAMAAJ&&q=holocaust] qtd in [https://books.google.com/books?id=hfK9SqHSaccC&pg=PA183] [https://books.google.com/books?id=6bEwc2FStIYC&pg=PA125]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ict.org.il/Articles/tabid/66/Articlsid/291/currentpage/4/Default.aspx |title=Articles > PLO Policy towards the Christian Community during the Civil War in Lebanon |publisher=ICT |access-date=2021-06-09}}</ref><ref>''The PLO: The Rise and Fall of the Palestine Liberation Organization'', Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1984, p. 124 [https://books.google.com/books?&id=H7BtAAAAMAAJ&&q=holocaust] qtd in [https://books.google.com/books?id=hfK9SqHSaccC&pg=PA183] [https://books.google.com/books?id=6bEwc2FStIYC&pg=PA125]</ref> |