User talk:2602:306:8B80:52E0:D4CA:A560:E827:66E6

Regarding Israeli involvement and what was stated in this Wikipedia page ("The Israeli Army surrounded Sabra and Shatila and stationed troops at the exits of the area to prevent camp residents from leaving and, at the Phalangists' request,[13] fired illuminating flares at night."), today I spoke with a IDF soldier who was called in with his unit from some exercise, specifically for standing guard at the entrance/exit of the camps in Beirut in that September of 1982. He told me that his unit's soldiers were ordered to stand guard at the entrance to enable the search and destroy operation by the Phalange against PLO and other militant groups in the camp. He remembers almost every detail of what transpired during the days of the massacre and the two days that followed. Yes, he says that the IDF did fire flares to illuminate what they understood was the search and destroy mission against militants. Yes, he heard gunfire during those two days. But both of these facts seemed logical, considering their orders. He did not see any civilians trying to flee the camps and, had he heard or seen any evidence of what was really going on, he would have reported it up the ladder. He said that only after the slaughter was over, after two days and bodies were being taken out, did he and his colleagues understand what had gone down. This does not reflect any upper level decisions, but those of the troops on the ground at the entrance to the camp.

Moshe Chertoff Kibbutz Shomrat Western Galilee, ISRAEL

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