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palestina libera · Beiträge: 1665

One of Israel’s most infamous crimes occurred 33 years ago this week.

In September 1982, the Israeli army surrounded the Sabra neighborhood and adjacent Shatila refugee camp in southern Beirut.

Israel gave its allies in a right-wing Christian militia known as the Phalange free rein to massacre a large number of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians living in the area. Israeli troops even shot flares into the night sky to help the Phalangists find their targets.

Exactly how many were killed between 16 and 18 September 1982 remains unknown. Estimates vary from 800 to 3,500; the real number is hard to determine because bodies were buried quickly in mass graves or never found, and many men were marched out of the camp and “disappeared.”

No information has been released about them to this day.

Shortly before the massacres, the Palestine Liberation Organization was evacuated from Lebanon as a result of an agreement reached after the Israeli invasion of the country. That meant the residents of Sabra and Shatila no longer had protection, despite promises made to them by Philip Habib, an envoy for then US President Ronald Reagan, that their security would be guaranteed.

Ellen Siegel, a Jewish American nurse, worked in Shatila at the time of the atrocities. She testified before the Israeli Kahan Commission of Inquiry, which in 1983 found that Israel was indirectly responsible for the massacre. Each year, she returns to Lebanon, taking part in commemorations.

https://electronicintifada.net/content/why-have-killers-sabra-and-shatila-escaped-justice/14841

Egypt destroys 12 tunnels between Gaza-Egypt border

Egyptian army border guards recently discovered and destroyed 12 "new" tunnels running under the Gaza-Egypt border in the northern Sinai Peninsula, Egyptian security sources told Ma'an.

Egyptian security sources said that the army’s border guards destroyed the tunnels in cooperation with military engineering forces.

Last month, Egyptian authorities announced plans to fill a kilometer-long trench along the Gazan border with seawater to be used for fish farming,aimed at preventing the construction of smuggling tunnels between the border.

The trench, which is currently a kilometer long and20-meters deep, will be expanded along the border, security sources had said.

They added at the time that military engineers had also planned to complete a water-pipe with a 20-inch diameter along the Gazan border in order to provide water to destroy smuggling tunnels as needed.

http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767713

Israel to bring in 20,000 Chinese construction workers

Israel plans to bring in 20,000 Chinese construction workers to help build new apartments as part of efforts to lower housing costs, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.

Netanyahu announced the plan at the start of a cabinet meeting, his office said. The finance ministry later said the cabinet had approved it.

Israeli attorney general Yehuda Weinstein has opposed the move because the two countries lack a formal agreement related to such cooperation.

The lack of an agreement can lead to immigrant workers paying middlemen hundreds or even thousands of dollars to obtain permits.

Chinese workers are currently brought into Israel under private contracts between Israeli and Chinese companies. The two countries have engaged in negotiations on working conditions, but have not yet reached an accord.

http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767734