The Israeli army command and Ariel Sharon must - or certainly should - have been aware of the mood of the Phalangists, shortly after the assassination of their leader. Anyone with even the slightest knowledge of the feelings of the Phalangists towards the Palestinians knew what would happen if they were let into the refugeecamps. The Israelis, Sharon included, knew about Tell al-Zaater.
Israeli army commanders Eitan, Drori and Yaron made comments about how obsessed the Phalangists were with revenge, talking about a "sea of blood" and "kasach" (arabic for slashing or cutting). As they made these observations Ariel Sharon gave the green light for the Phalangists to enter Sabra and Shatila, which they did as dusk fell on the 16th of September.
I witnessed that there was coordination between the Israeli army and the Lebanese militiamen. But the ones in overall control were the Israelis. It was not possible for them to see everything in the narrow alleyways of Sabra and Shatila, but they were able to see a great deal with their telescopes and night vision equipment. Soon after the massacres started there were reports from individual Israeli soldiers about killings. Not once did the Israeli military command respond by putting an end to the slaughter.
Groups of civilians, coming out of the camps, were sent back. Even on Saturday morning, long after it was known to the Israelis that there was a massacre, we saw fresh groups of militiamen enter Shatila under Israeli supervision.
Israeli army commanders Eitan, Drori and Yaron made comments about how obsessed the Phalangists were with revenge, talking about a "sea of blood" and "kasach" (arabic for slashing or cutting). As they made these observations Ariel Sharon gave the green light for the Phalangists to enter Sabra and Shatila, which they did as dusk fell on the 16th of September.
I witnessed that there was coordination between the Israeli army and the Lebanese militiamen. But the ones in overall control were the Israelis. It was not possible for them to see everything in the narrow alleyways of Sabra and Shatila, but they were able to see a great deal with their telescopes and night vision equipment. Soon after the massacres started there were reports from individual Israeli soldiers about killings. Not once did the Israeli military command respond by putting an end to the slaughter.
Groups of civilians, coming out of the camps, were sent back. Even on Saturday morning, long after it was known to the Israelis that there was a massacre, we saw fresh groups of militiamen enter Shatila under Israeli supervision.