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{{Short description|1982 bombing of the Kataeb Party headquarters}}
{{Short description|1982 bombing of the Kataeb Party headquarters}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox assassination
{{Infobox assassination
| title = Assassination of Bachir Gemayel
| title = Assassination of Bachir Gemayel
| location = Beirut, Lebanon
| location = Beirut, Lebanon
| date = {{start date and age|1982|09|14|df=yes}}
| date = {{start date and age|1982|09|14|df=yes}}
| partof = the [[Lebanese Civil War]]
| partof = the [[Lebanese Civil War]]
| image = The Kataeb Headquarters after Explosion.jpg
| image = The Kataeb Headquarters after Explosion.jpg
| caption = The Kataeb headquarters after the explosion
| caption = The Kataeb headquarters after the explosion
| target = [[Bachir Gemayel]]
| target = [[Bachir Gemayel]]
| type = TNT explosion
| type = TNT explosion
| weapon = Remote-controlled explosive
| weapon = Remote-controlled explosive
| fatalities = 24
| fatalities = 24, including [[Bachir Gemayel]]
| injuries = 70+
| injuries = 70+
| perpetrators = [[Habib Shartouni]] and Nabil Alam
| perpetrators = [[SSNP]] members [[Habib Shartouni]] and Nabil Alam
}}
}}
⚫
On 14 September 1982, a bomb was detonated during a party meeting in the [[Kataeb Party]] headquarters in [[Achrafieh]], [[Beirut]] which killed Lebanese president-elect [[Bachir Gemayel]] and 25 other affiliates of the party.

⚫
The attack was carried out by [[Habib Shartouni]], a member of the [[Syrian Social Nationalist Party]] (SSNP), and allegedly planned by Nabil al-Alam who were both believed by many to have acted on instructions of the Syrian government of [[President of Syria|President]] [[Hafez al-Assad]].<ref>{{cite news |date=3 October 1982 |title=Phalangists Identify Bomber of Gemayel As Lebanese Leftist |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DE0DB1F38F930A35753C1A964948260 |access-date=7 May 2010 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> The next day, Israel moved to occupy the city, allowing Phalangist members under [[Elie Hobeika]]'s command to enter the centrally located [[Shatila refugee camp|Sabra and the Shatila refugee camp]]; a [[Sabra and Shatila massacre|massacre]] followed, in which Phalangists killed between 762 and 3,500 (number is disputed) civilians, mostly [[Palestinian people|Palestinians]] and [[Shia Islam in Lebanon|Lebanese Shiites]], causing great international uproar.

{{Campaignbox Lebanese Civil War}}
{{Campaignbox Lebanese Civil War}}
⚫
On 14 September 1982, a bomb was detonated during a meeting of the right-wing Christian [[Kataeb Party]] (also known as the ''Phalanges'') in the Beirut neighborhood of [[Achrafieh]]. Militia commander and Lebanese president-elect [[Bachir Gemayel]] and 23 other Kataeb Party politicians were killed in the blast.

⚫
The attack was carried out by [[Habib Shartouni]] and allegedly planned by Nabil Alam, both members of the [[Syrian Social Nationalist Party]] (SSNP). Both men were believed to have acted on instructions of the Syrian government led by president [[Hafez al-Assad]].<ref name="NYT 1982">{{cite news |author=<!--anonymous author(s)--> |date=3 October 1982 |page=19 |title=Phalangists Identify Bomber of Gemayel As Lebanese Leftist |agency=Reuters |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/03/world/phalangists-identify-bomber-of-gemayel-as-lebanese-leftist.html |access-date=22 July 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url-access=limited}}</ref> The next day, the [[Israel Defense Forces]] (IDF) moved to occupy the city, allowing members of the [[Lebanese Forces (militia)|Lebanese Forces]] militia under the command of [[Elie Hobeika]] to enter the centrally located Sabra neighborhood and adjoining [[Shatila refugee camp]]. Militia members then [[Sabra and Shatila massacre|massacred between 1,300 and 3,500 civilians]], mostly [[Palestinians in Lebanon|Palestinians]] and [[Lebanese Shia Muslims]], causing an international uproar.


== Background ==
== Background ==
⚫
Israel [[1982 Lebanon War|invaded Lebanon in 1982]].<ref name="Bsisu 2012">{{cite journal |last=Bsisu |first=Naji |date=Spring 2012 |title=Israeli Domestic Politics and the War in Lebanon |url=https://lights.rso.uchicago.edu/files/2020/09/vol1issue3.pdf |journal=Lights: The MESSA Journal |publisher=University of Chicago; Middle Eastern Studies Student Association |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=29–38 |access-date=22 July 2024}}</ref> Defense Minister of Israel, [[Ariel Sharon]], met with Gemayel months earlier, telling him that the [[Israeli Defense Force]] (IDF) were planning an invasion to uproot the PLO threat to Israel and to move them out of Lebanon.<ref name="Fifty Years War">{{cite AV media |title=The Fifty Years War: Israel and the Arabs |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p0glc7yp/the-fifty-years-war-israel-and-the-arabs |publisher=BBC |series=The Big Picture |type=DVD video |oclc=900843337 |date=1998}}{{time needed|date=July 2024}}</ref> While Gemayel did not control Israel's actions in Lebanon, the support Israel gave the Lebanese Forces, militarily and politically, angered many Lebanese leftists. Gemayel had planned to use the IDF to push the Syrian Army out of Lebanon and then use his relations with the Americans to pressure the Israelis into withdrawing from Lebanese territory.<ref name="Khalifeh 2008">{{cite book |last=Khalifeh |first=Nabil |date=2008 |trans-title=Lebanon in Kissinger's Strategy: A Political and Geostrategic Comparison |title=Lubnán fí strátíjiyyat kísinjar: muqáriba siyásiyya wa-jiyyú-strátíjiyya |location=Byblos |publisher=Byblos Center for Studies and Research |page=271 |lang=ar}}</ref> On 23 August 1982, being the only one to declare candidacy, Gemayel was elected president in an election boycotted by Muslim MPs, as he prevailed over the National Movement.<ref name="Avon 2012">{{Cite book |last1=Avon |first1=Dominique |title=Hezbollah: A History of the "'Party of God' |last2=Khatchadourian |first2=Anaïs-Trissa |last3=Todd |first3=Jane Marie |date=2012 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0674067523 |language=en}}{{page needed|date=July 2024}}</ref> Israel had relied on Gemayel and his forces as a counterbalance to the [[PLO]], and as a result, ties between Israel and Maronite groups, from which hailed many of the supporters of the Lebanese Forces, had grown stronger.<ref name="Eisenberg p45">{{cite book |last1=Eisenberg |first1=Laura Zittrain |last2=Caplan |first2=Neil |title=Negotiating Arab-Israeli Peace: Patterns, Problems, Possibilities |date=1998 |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington |isbn=978-0-253-21159-0 |page=45 |quote=By 1982, the Israeli-Maronite relationship was quite the open secret, with Maronite militiamen training in Israel and high-level Maronite and Israeli leaders making regular reciprocal visits to one another's homes and headquarters.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/publish/article_252.shtml |title=Sabra and Shatilla |date=n.d. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061030121144/http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/publish/article_252.shtml |archive-date=30 October 2006 |publisher=Jewish Voice for Peace}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=July 2024 |reason=Publisher is a political advocacy org}}<ref name="Asser 2002">{{cite news |last1=Asser |first1=Martin |title=Sabra and Shatila 20 years on |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2255902.stm |access-date=22 July 2024 |work=BBC News |date=14 September 2002}}</ref>
⚫
Habib Tanious Shartouni, a [[Maronite|Maronite Christian]], was born in a small village called [[Charoun|Chartoun]] ({{lang-ar|شرتون}}) in [[Aley District|Aley]], [[Mount Lebanon]]. In the early 1970s, only a few years before the outbreak of the [[Lebanese Civil War|civil war]], he was inspired and became affiliated with the [[Syrian Social Nationalist Party in Lebanon|Syrian Social Nationalist Party]] (SSNP). When the [[Lebanese Civil War]] broke out, he volunteered to serve in one of the SSNP stations in [[Aley]].<ref>{{cite web |date=2012-07-23 |title=Habib al-Shartouni: Striking the Head of Collaboration |url=http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/habib-al-shartouni-striking-head-collaboration |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413125127/https://english.al-akhbar.com/content/habib-al-shartouni-striking-head-collaboration |archive-date=2018-04-13 |accessdate=2016-08-18 |publisher=Al Akhbar English}}</ref> Shartouni fled to [[France]] where he attended a university in Paris and obtained a degree in business until the late summer of 1977 during which he officially joined the SSNP upon his first visit to Lebanon and became an active member ever since.<ref>{{cite book |last=O'Brien |first=Conor Cruise |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B8sFAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Habib+Tanious+Shartouni%22+%7C+%22Habib+Shartouni%22 |title=The Siege: The Saga of Israel and Zionism |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-671-60044-0 |page=629 |authorlink=Conor Cruise O'Brien}}</ref> Upon his return to France, he carried all the necessary contacts pertaining to the party's delegates in Paris and started attending some of their secret meetings, wherein he met Nabil Alam, the chief of interior of the party at the time. Alam made a significant impression on Shartouni, which paved the way for Bachir's assassination.


=== Perpetrators ===
⚫
Israel [[1982 Lebanon War|invaded Lebanon in 1982]].<ref name="bsisu12">{{cite journal |last=Bsisu |first=N. |year=2012 |title=Israeli Domestic Politics and the War in Lebanon |url=http://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/messa/files/2012/07/Lights-S2012-Template-FINAL.pdf#page=34 |journal=Lights: The MESSA Journal |volume=29 |access-date=23 March 2013}}</ref> Defense Minister of Israel, [[Ariel Sharon]], met with Gemayel months earlier, telling him that the [[Israeli Defense Force]] (IDF) were planning an invasion to uproot the PLO threat to Israel and to move them out of Lebanon.<ref>{{cite web |date=20 August 2007 |title=Israel and Lebanon – Allies – Part 2 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g29PR3nkZPc |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/g29PR3nkZPc |archive-date=2021-12-21 |access-date=30 December 2012 |publisher=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> While Gemayel did not control Israel's actions in Lebanon, the support Israel gave the Lebanese Forces, militarily and politically, angered many Lebanese leftists. Gemayel had planned to use the IDF to push the Syrian Army out of Lebanon and then use his relations with the Americans to pressure the Israelis into withdrawing from Lebanese territory.<ref>{{cite book |last=Khalife |first=Nabil |title=Lebanon in Kissinger's Plan |publisher=Byblos Center for Research |year=2008 |page=271}}</ref> On 23 August 1982, being the only one to declare candidacy, Gemayel was elected president in an election boycotted by Muslim MPs, as he prevailed over the National Movement.<ref name="Harvard University Press">{{Cite book |last1=Avon |first1=Dominique |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xOC6v4-XCHgC&q=bachir+Gemayel+relation+with+the+united+states&pg=PA21 |title=Hezbollah: A History of the "'Party of God' |last2=Khatchadourian |first2=Anaïs-Trissa |last3=Todd |first3=Jane Marie |date=2012 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0674067523 |language=en}}</ref> Israel had relied on Gemayel and his forces as a counterbalance to the [[PLO]], and as a result, ties between Israel and Maronite groups, from which hailed many of the supporters of the Lebanese Forces, had grown stronger.<ref>"By 1982, the Israeli-Maronite relationship was quite the open secret, with Maronite militiamen training in Israel and high-level Maronite and Israeli leaders making regular reciprocal visits to one another's homes and headquarters" (Eisenberg and Caplan, 1998, p. 45).</ref><ref>[http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/publish/article_252.shtml Sabra and Shatilla] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061030121144/http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/publish/article_252.shtml|date=30 October 2006}}, Jewish Voice for Peace. Accessed 17 July 2006.</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2255902.stm Sabra and Shatila 20 years on]. BBC, 14 September 2002. Accessed 17 July 2006.</ref>
⚫
Habib Tanious Shartouni, a [[Maronite|Maronite Christian]], was born in a small village called [[Charoun|Chartoun]] ({{langx|ar|شرتون}}) in [[Aley District|Aley]], [[Mount Lebanon]]. In the early 1970s, only a few years before the outbreak of the [[Lebanese Civil War]], he was inspired and became affiliated with the [[Syrian Social Nationalist Party in Lebanon|Syrian Social Nationalist Party]] (SSNP). When war broke out, he volunteered to serve in one of the SSNP stations in [[Aley]].<ref>{{cite web |date=2012-07-23 |title=Habib al-Shartouni: Striking the Head of Collaboration |url=http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/habib-al-shartouni-striking-head-collaboration |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413125127/https://english.al-akhbar.com/content/habib-al-shartouni-striking-head-collaboration |archive-date=2018-04-13 |accessdate=2016-08-18 |publisher=Al Akhbar English}}</ref> Shartouni fled to [[France]] where he attended a university in Paris and obtained a degree in business until the late summer of 1977 during which he officially joined the SSNP upon his first visit to Lebanon and became an active member ever since.<ref name="O'Brien 1986">{{cite book |last=O'Brien |first=Conor Cruise |url=https://archive.org/details/siegesagaofisrae00obri/page/629/mode/1up?view=theater |title=The Siege: The Saga of Israel and Zionism |date=1986 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-671-60044-0 |location=New York |page=629 |url-access=registration |authorlink=Conor Cruise O'Brien}}</ref> Upon his return to France, he carried all the necessary contacts pertaining to the party's delegates in Paris and started attending some of their secret meetings, wherein he met Nabil Alam, the chief of interior of the party at the time. Alam made a significant impression on Shartouni, which paved the way for Bachir's assassination.


== Assassination ==
== Assassination ==
On 14 September 1982, Bashir Gemayel was addressing fellow Phalangists at their headquarters in [[Achrafieh]] for the last time as their leader and for the last time as commander of the Lebanese Forces. At 4:10 PM, an estimated 180 kilograms of TNT was detonated, killing Gemayel and 23 other Phalange politicians. The first testimonies stated that Gemayel had left the premises on foot or in an ambulance (bearing the number 90). For several hours after the explosion it was believed that Gemayel survived the blast. Some reported that he is in an ongoing treatment of leg bruises at the nearby Hotel Dieu hospital. In reaction to this Church bells were rung in celebration of his reported survival.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Campbell |first=Colin |date=1982-09-15 |title=GEMAYEL OF LEBANON IS KILLED IN BOMB BLAST AT PARTY OFFICES |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/09/15/world/gemayel-of-lebanon-is-killed-in-bomb-blast-at-party-offices.html |access-date=2024-01-06 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Then the commander of military intelligence [[Johnny Abdo|Jonny Abdu]] reported that Bachir Gemayel had been taken to a hospital in Haifa by helicopter. The search and rescue teams on the field were unable to find him or his body.<ref name="israel war">{{cite book |author1=Zeev Schiff |url=https://archive.org/details/israelslebanonwa0000schi |title=Israel's Lebanon War |author2=Ehud Ya'ari |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=1985 |isbn=978-0671479916 |editor=Simon and Schuster |url-access=registration}}</ref> His body was finally identified five and a half hours after the explosion by a Mossad agent in a church close to the site of the explosion where the dead were being collected. The face on the body was unrecognizable; he was identified by the white-gold wedding ring he was wearing and two letters he was carrying addressed to Bachir Gemayel. It was concluded that he had been one of the first people moved to the church after the explosion.<ref name="israel war2">{{cite book |author1=Zeev Schiff |url=https://archive.org/details/israelslebanonwa0000schi |title=Israel's Lebanon War |author2=Ehud Ya'ari |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=1985 |isbn=978-0671479916 |editor=Simon and Schuster |url-access=registration}}</ref> Rumors persisted that Gemayel had survived, until it was confirmed the following morning by the Lebanese Prime Minister [[Shafik Wazzan]] that he had indeed been killed in the attack.<ref>From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman</ref>
On 14 September 1982, Bashir Gemayel was addressing fellow Kataeb Party members (''Phalangists'') at their headquarters in [[Achrafieh]] for the last time as their leader and for the last time as commander of the [[Lebanese Forces (militia)|Lebanese Forces]]. At 4:10 PM, an estimated 180 kilograms of TNT was detonated, killing Gemayel and 23 other Phalange politicians. The first testimonies stated that Gemayel had left the premises on foot or in an ambulance.
For several hours after the explosion, rumors persisted that Gemayel had survived the blast. Some reported that he was receiving ongoing treatment for leg bruises at the nearby Hotel Dieu hospital. In reaction to this, church bells were rung in celebration of his reported survival.<ref name="Campbell 1982">{{Cite news |last=Campbell |first=Colin |date=1982-09-15 |title=Gemayel of Lebanon is Killed in Bomb Blast at Party Offices |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/09/15/world/gemayel-of-lebanon-is-killed-in-bomb-blast-at-party-offices.html |access-date=2024-01-06 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |url-access=limited}}</ref> The commander of military intelligence [[Johnny Abdo|Jonny Abdu]] reported that Gemayel had been taken to a hospital in Haifa by helicopter. The search and rescue teams on the field were unable to find him or his body.<ref name="Schiff 1984">{{cite book |last1=Schiff |first1=Ze'ev |last2=Ya'ari |first2=Ehud |translator=Ina Friedman |title=Israel's Lebanon war |date=1984 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |location=New York |isbn=978-0-671-47991-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/israelslebanonwa0000schi/page/n6/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration}}{{page needed|date=July 2024}}</ref>
Gemayel's body was finally identified five and a half hours after the explosion by a Mossad agent in a church close to the site of the explosion where the dead were being collected. The face on the body was unrecognizable; he was identified by the white-gold wedding ring he was wearing and two letters he was carrying addressed to himself. It was concluded that he had been one of the first people moved to the church after the explosion.<ref name="Schiff 1984"/> Then–prime minister [[Shafik Wazzan]] confirmed the following morning that Gemayel had indeed been killed in the attack,<ref name="Friedman 1990">{{cite book |last1=Friedman |first1=Thomas L. |title=From Beirut to Jerusalem |date=1990 |publisher=William Collins Sons |location=London |isbn=978-0-00-215096-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/frombeiruttojeru0000frie_g9h8/page/n6/mode/1up?ref=ol&view=theater |url-access=registration}}{{page needed|date=July 2024}}</ref> saying, "I face this shocking news with the strongest denunciation for this criminal act."<ref name="Campbell 1982" />


== Aftermath ==
== Aftermath ==
⚫
Bachir Gemayel's older brother [[Amine Gemayel]] was not long after elected president, serving from 1982<ref name="Harvard University Press2">{{Cite book |last1=Avon |first1=Dominique |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xOC6v4-XCHgC&q=bachir+Gemayel+relation+with+the+united+states&pg=PA21 |title=Hezbollah: A History of the "'Party of God' |last2=Khatchadourian |first2=Anaïs-Trissa |last3=Todd |first3=Jane Marie |date=2012 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0674067523 |language=en}}</ref> to 1988. The parliament had 80 of the 99 MPs present for the elections.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Election of the Presidents of the Lebanese Republic |url=https://monthlymagazine.com/article-desc_1350_ |access-date=2022-06-11 |website=monthlymagazine.com |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Amine Gemayel]] was elected during the first round of voting. 77 votes for Amine Gemayel and 3 blank ballots.<ref name=":0" /> Rather different in temperament, Amine Gemayel was widely regarded as more moderate than his brother. Gemayel never promised the Israelis anything in order to be elected president, but he promised that he would follow the path of his brother Bashir whatever that path was. He left his post in the Kataeb Party after being elected president.<ref name="mil23jul">{{cite news |date=23 July 1983 |title=Anti-Gemayel 'front' formed in Lebanon |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CW4aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8ykEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5397,1565585&dq=gemayel+family+in+lebanon&hl=en |access-date=23 March 2013 |newspaper=The Milwaukee Journal}}</ref> Once elected, he refused to meet any Israeli official.<ref name="meib2003">{{cite journal |last=Maroun |first=Pierre |date=February–March 2003 |title=Dossier: Amine Gemayel Former President of Lebanon |url=http://www.meforum.org/meib/articles/0302_ld.htm |journal=Middle East Intelligence Bulletin |volume=5 |issue=2 |access-date=10 June 2012}}</ref>


=== Trial ===
===Israeli occupation of Beirut===
Following the news of Gemayel's assassination, Israeli Prime Minister [[Menachem Begin]], Defense Minister [[Ariel Sharon]], and Chief of Staff [[Rafael Eitan]] agreed that the Israeli army should invade West Beirut. The public reason given was to be that they were there to prevent chaos. In a separate conversation, Sharon and Eitan agreed that the [[Israel Defense Forces]] (IDF) should not enter the Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut, but that the Phalange should be used instead.<ref>Kahan. pp. 13, 14{{full citation needed|date=July 2024}}</ref>
⚫
Shartouni was handed over to Lebanese justice. [[Amine Gemayel]], Bachir's elder brother, succeeded him to the presidency seat after his assassination. Habib had spent eight years held captive in [[Roumieh Prison|Roumieh prison]] without an official trial, until 13 October 1990 when he escaped during the final Syrian offensive in Lebanon that was aimed at toppling the government headed by [[Michel Aoun]].<ref>{{cite web |date= |title=Naharnet — Lebanon's leading news destination |url=http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/newsdesk.nsf/0/68B45B406488C72FC225725E004A9A65?OpenDocument |accessdate=2016-08-18 |website=Naharnet.com}}</ref> Shartouni was sentenced to death in absentia by the Lebanese court on 20 October 2017 after admitting his part in the assassination.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2017-10-20 |title=Lebanese court issues death sentence over 1982 Gemayel assassination |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lebanon-politics-trial-idUSKBN1CP22E |access-date=2021-02-17 |work=[[Reuters]] |language=en}}</ref> In interviews with Lebanese newspaper ''[[Al Akhbar (Lebanon)|al-Akhbar]]'' in 2012 and 2017, Shartouni stated that after his escape, he resided in Syria between 1994 and 2004, and did not disclose his current whereabouts. He also denied that he visited Lebanon since his escape from prison in 1990.<ref>{{cite web |date=2017-10-31 |title=Lebanese court issues death sentence over 1982 Gemayel assassination |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lebanon-politics-trial-idUSKBN1CP22E |access-date=2022-10-27 |work=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Diab |first=Afif |date=2012-07-23 |title=Habib al-Shartouni: Striking the Head of Collaboration |url=http://english.al-akhbar.com:80/content/habib-al-shartouni-striking-head-collaboration |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226161536/http://english.al-akhbar.com:80/content/habib-al-shartouni-striking-head-collaboration |archive-date=2017-02-26 |access-date=2022-10-27 |newspaper=al-Akhbar}}</ref>


Shortly after 6.00&nbsp;a.m. on 15 September, the Israeli army entered West Beirut<ref>Kahan. p. 15{{full citation needed|date=July 2024}}</ref> in violation of a 1981 ceasefire brokered by the United States.<ref name="Ensalaco p137">{{cite book |last1=Ensalaco |first1=Mark |title=Middle Eastern Terrorism: From Black September to September 11 |date=2012 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |location=Philadelphia |isbn=978-0-8122-0187-1 |page=137}}</ref><ref name="Panorama 2001">{{cite news |title=The Accused |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/enwiki/static/audio_video/programmes/panorama/transcripts/transcript_17_06_01.txt |access-date=22 July 2024 |work=[[Panorama (British TV programme)|Panorama]] |agency=BBC News |date=17 June 2001 |type=transcript of broadcast |quote=Ariel Sharon now decided to send his army into West Beirut, breaking a promise to the Americans that they would stay out of that part of the city.}}</ref> Between 1,300 and 3,500 civilians, mostly Palestinians and Lebanese Shia Muslims, were [[Sabra and Shatila massacre|massacred by members of the Lebanese Forces militia]] in an alleged act of retaliation for the assassination, which was overseen by the IDF.
⚫
On 20 October 2017, the Judicial Council, Lebanon's highest state security court, sentenced Habib Shartouni and Nabil al-Alam to death in absentia in the case of the 1982 assassination of President-elect Bashir Gemayel. The Council also stripped former Syrian Social National Party members Shartouni and Alam of their civil rights.<ref>{{cite web |date= |title=Shartouni Alam sentenced to death over Bashir Gemayel assassination |url=http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/237054-shartouni-alam-sentenced-to-death-over-bashir-gemayel-assassination |accessdate=2017-10-20 |website=www.naharnet.com}}</ref>


=== Reactions ===
=== International response ===
Condemnations poured in from around the world, including the [[United Nations Security Council]] in [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 520|Resolution 520]] as well as from American President [[Ronald Reagan]]. Reagan had been one of Gemayel's staunchest supporters, saying "this promising young leader had brought the light of hope to Lebanon."<ref>[http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1982/91482h.htm Statement on the Assassination of President-elect Bashir Gemayel of Lebanon]</ref>
The United Nations Security Council issued [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 520|Resolution 520]] demanding that Israel withdraw immediately from Lebanon. American President [[Ronald Reagan]], who had been one of Gemayel's staunchest supporters, issued a statement of condolences for his death, saying "this promising young leader had brought the light of hope to Lebanon."<ref>{{cite web |title=Statement on the Assassination of President-elect Bashir Gemayel of Lebanon |url=https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/statement-assassination-president-elect-bashir-gemayel-lebanon |access-date=22 July 2024 |date=September 14, 1982 |via=Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=July 2024}}


===Election of Amine Gemayel===
The then prime minister [[Shafik Wazzan]] said while conforming the death of Bachir Gemayel, "I face this shocking news with the strongest denunciation for this criminal act."<ref name=":1" />
⚫
Bachir Gemayel's older brother [[Amine Gemayel]] was not long after elected president, serving from 1982<ref name="Avon 2012"/> to 1988. The elder Gemayel was elected during the first round of voting in Parliament; of the 80 members present, 77 ballots were cast in support with three left blank.<ref name="Monthly 2014">{{Cite web |author=<!--anonymous author(s)--> |title=Election of the Presidents of the Lebanese Republic |url=https://monthlymagazine.com/article-desc_1350_ |archive-date=1 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101122522/https://monthlymagazine.com/article-desc_1350_ |website=The Monthly Magazine |location=Beirut |date=9 July 2014}}</ref> Amine Gemayel was widely regarded as more moderate than his brother. He never promised the Israelis anything in order to be elected president, but rather that he would follow the path of his brother, whatever that path was. He left his post in the Kataeb Party after the election.<ref name="The Milwaukee Journal 1983">{{cite news |date=23 July 1983 |title=Anti-Gemayel 'front' formed in Lebanon |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CW4aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8ykEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5397,1565585&dq=gemayel+family+in+lebanon&hl=en |access-date=23 March 2013 |newspaper=The Milwaukee Journal |issn=1052-4452 |via=News.google.com}}{{dead link|date=July 2024|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> Once elected, he refused to meet any Israeli official.<ref name="Maroun 2003">{{cite journal |last=Maroun |first=Pierre |date=February–March 2003 |title=Dossier: Amine Gemayel |url=http://www.meforum.org/meib/articles/0302_ld.htm |journal=Middle East Intelligence Bulletin |volume=5 |issue=2 |access-date=10 June 2012 |publisher=Middle East Forum |location=Philadelphia}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=July 2024 |reason=Publisher is a political advocacy org}}


=== Legal proceedings ===
On the evening of 14 September, following the news that [[Bashir Gemayel]] had been assassinated, Prime Minister Begin, Defense Minister Sharon and Chief of Staff Eitan agreed that the Israeli army should invade [[West Beirut]]. The public reason given was to be that they were there to prevent chaos. In a separate conversation, at 20:30 that evening, Sharon and Eitan agreed that the IDF should not enter the Palestinian refugee camps but that the Phalange should be used.<ref>Kahan. pp. 13, 14</ref> Shortly after 6.00&nbsp;am 15 September, the Israeli army entered West Beirut,<ref>Kahan. p. 15</ref> This Israeli action breached its agreement with the United States not to occupy West Beirut<ref name="Accused">Panorama: "The Accused", broadcast by the [[BBC]], 17 June 2001; [http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/enwiki/static/audio_video/programmes/panorama/transcripts/transcript_17_06_01.txt transcript] accessed 9 February 2006.</ref> and was in violation of the ceasefire.<ref>Mark Ensalaco, [https://books.google.com/books?id=_EW6H-4tQ6cC&pg=PA138 ''Middle Eastern Terrorism: From Black September to September 11''], University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012 p. 137.</ref> Between 762 and 3,500 civilians, mostly Palestinians and Lebanese Shiites, were massacred by members of the Phalange, which was overlooked by the IDF, in an alleged retaliation for the assassination of Gemayel.
⚫
Habib Shartouni was held for eight years in [[Roumieh Prison|Roumieh prison]] without an official trial, before escaping during the [[War of Liberation (1989–1990)|final Syrian offensive]] that marked the end of the Lebanese Civil War.<ref>{{cite web |date= |title=Naharnet — Lebanon's leading news destination |url=http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/newsdesk.nsf/0/68B45B406488C72FC225725E004A9A65?OpenDocument |accessdate=2016-08-18 |website=Naharnet.com}}{{dead link|date=July 2024|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> In the 1990s, he admitted his part in the assassination.<ref name="Reuters 2017"/> In interviews with Lebanese newspaper ''[[Al Akhbar (Lebanon)|al-Akhbar]]'' in the 2010s, Shartouni stated that after his escape, he resided in Syria, but did not not disclose his whereabouts at the time. He also denied visiting Lebanon since his escape from prison.<ref name="Reuters 2017">{{cite news |author1=<!--anonymous author(s)--> |title=Lebanese court issues death sentence over 1982 Gemayel assassination |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lebanon-politics-trial-idUSKBN1CP22E/ |access-date=22 July 2024 |work=Reuters |date=20 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Diab |first=Afif |date=2012-07-23 |title=Habib al-Shartouni: Striking the Head of Collaboration |url=http://english.al-akhbar.com:80/content/habib-al-shartouni-striking-head-collaboration |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226161536/http://english.al-akhbar.com:80/content/habib-al-shartouni-striking-head-collaboration |archive-date=2017-02-26 |newspaper=al-Akhbar}}</ref>


Protests broke out in Beirut during the third trial investigating the assassination. Separated by the riot police, supporters of both the SSNP and the Kataeb Party blocked the road in front of the Justice Palace. A SSNP member on Al-Jadeed said that Shartouni "is a hero the size of a nation".<ref>{{Cite web |last=lebanons01 |date=2017-05-03 |title=Protests erupt as third trial on Bachir Gemayel assassination begins |url=https://civilsociety-centre.org/sir/protests-erupt-third-trial-bachir-gemayel-assassination-begins |access-date=2024-01-07 |website=Civil Society Knowledge Centre |language=en}}</ref>
During the third trial of Shartouni in 2017, protests by supporters of both the SSNP and the Kataeb Party blocked the road in front of the Justice Palace. A SSNP member interviewed by ''[[Al-Jadeed]]'' said Shartouni was "a hero the size of a nation".<ref>{{Cite web |author=<!--anonymous author(s)--> |date=n.d. |title=Conflict Incident Report: Protests erupt as third trial on Bachir Gemayel assassination begins |url=https://civilsociety-centre.org/sir/protests-erupt-third-trial-bachir-gemayel-assassination-begins |archive-date=7 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240107110933/https://civilsociety-centre.org/sir/protests-erupt-third-trial-bachir-gemayel-assassination-begins |publisher=Civil Society Knowledge Centre, Centre for Social Sciences Research & Action |location=Beirut}}</ref>
⚫
On 20 October, the Judicial Council, Lebanon's highest state security court, sentenced Shartouni and Nabil Alam to death [[Trial in absentia|in absentia]] and stripped them of their [[civil rights]].<ref name="Naharnet 2017">{{cite web |date=20 October 2017 |title=Chartouni, Alam Sentenced to Death over Bashir Gemayel Assassination |url=http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/237054-shartouni-alam-sentenced-to-death-over-bashir-gemayel-assassination |archive-date=10 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171110061815/http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/237054-shartouni-alam-sentenced-to-death-over-bashir-gemayel-assassination |website=Naharnet}}</ref>


== See also ==
== See also ==

* [[Sabra and Shatila massacre]]
* [[Bachir Gemayel]]
* [[Habib Shartouni]]
* [[1982 Lebanon War]]
* [[1982 Lebanon War]]


== Reference ==
== References ==
<references />
<references />

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gemayel, Bachir}}
[[Category:Assassinations in Lebanon]]
[[Category:Assassinations in Lebanon]]
[[Category:Asian politicians assassinated in the 1980s]]
[[Category:Asian politicians assassinated in the 1980s]]
[[Category:1980s crimes in Beirut]]
[[Category:1980s crimes in Beirut]]
[[Category:1982 murders in Lebanon]]
[[Category:1982 murders in Lebanon]]
[[Category:20th-century mass murder in Lebanon]]
[[Category:Mass murder in Beirut]]
[[Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in Lebanon]]
[[Category:Building bombings in Beirut]]
[[Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in 1982]]
[[Category:1982 building bombings]]
[[Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in Beirut]]
[[Category:Massacres of the Lebanese Civil War]]
[[Category:Massacres of the Lebanese Civil War]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in Lebanon in 1982]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in Lebanon in 1982]]
[[Category:Improvised explosive device bombings in Beirut]]
[[Category:Sabra and Shatila massacre]]
[[Category:Improvised explosive device bombings in 1982]]
[[Category:September 1982 events in Asia]]
[[Category:September 1982 events in Asia]]
[[Category:Syrian Social Nationalist Party]]
[[Category:Syrian Social Nationalist Party]]

Revision as of 11:04, 11 November 2024

Assassination of Bachir Gemayel
Part of the Lebanese Civil War
The Kataeb headquarters after the explosion
LocationBeirut, Lebanon
Date14 September 1982; 42 years ago (1982-09-14)
TargetBachir Gemayel
Attack type
TNT explosion
WeaponRemote-controlled explosive
Deaths24, including Bachir Gemayel
Injured70+
PerpetratorsSSNP members Habib Shartouni and Nabil Alam

On 14 September 1982, a bomb was detonated during a meeting of the right-wing Christian Kataeb Party (also known as the Phalanges) in the Beirut neighborhood of Achrafieh. Militia commander and Lebanese president-elect Bachir Gemayel and 23 other Kataeb Party politicians were killed in the blast.

The attack was carried out by Habib Shartouni and allegedly planned by Nabil Alam, both members of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP). Both men were believed to have acted on instructions of the Syrian government led by president Hafez al-Assad.[1] The next day, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) moved to occupy the city, allowing members of the Lebanese Forces militia under the command of Elie Hobeika to enter the centrally located Sabra neighborhood and adjoining Shatila refugee camp. Militia members then massacred between 1,300 and 3,500 civilians, mostly Palestinians and Lebanese Shia Muslims, causing an international uproar.

Background

Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982.[2] Defense Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, met with Gemayel months earlier, telling him that the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) were planning an invasion to uproot the PLO threat to Israel and to move them out of Lebanon.[3] While Gemayel did not control Israel's actions in Lebanon, the support Israel gave the Lebanese Forces, militarily and politically, angered many Lebanese leftists. Gemayel had planned to use the IDF to push the Syrian Army out of Lebanon and then use his relations with the Americans to pressure the Israelis into withdrawing from Lebanese territory.[4] On 23 August 1982, being the only one to declare candidacy, Gemayel was elected president in an election boycotted by Muslim MPs, as he prevailed over the National Movement.[5] Israel had relied on Gemayel and his forces as a counterbalance to the PLO, and as a result, ties between Israel and Maronite groups, from which hailed many of the supporters of the Lebanese Forces, had grown stronger.[6][7][unreliable source?][8]

Perpetrators

Habib Tanious Shartouni, a Maronite Christian, was born in a small village called Chartoun (Arabic: شرتون) in Aley, Mount Lebanon. In the early 1970s, only a few years before the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War, he was inspired and became affiliated with the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP). When war broke out, he volunteered to serve in one of the SSNP stations in Aley.[9] Shartouni fled to France where he attended a university in Paris and obtained a degree in business until the late summer of 1977 during which he officially joined the SSNP upon his first visit to Lebanon and became an active member ever since.[10] Upon his return to France, he carried all the necessary contacts pertaining to the party's delegates in Paris and started attending some of their secret meetings, wherein he met Nabil Alam, the chief of interior of the party at the time. Alam made a significant impression on Shartouni, which paved the way for Bachir's assassination.

Assassination

On 14 September 1982, Bashir Gemayel was addressing fellow Kataeb Party members (Phalangists) at their headquarters in Achrafieh for the last time as their leader and for the last time as commander of the Lebanese Forces. At 4:10 PM, an estimated 180 kilograms of TNT was detonated, killing Gemayel and 23 other Phalange politicians. The first testimonies stated that Gemayel had left the premises on foot or in an ambulance.

For several hours after the explosion, rumors persisted that Gemayel had survived the blast. Some reported that he was receiving ongoing treatment for leg bruises at the nearby Hotel Dieu hospital. In reaction to this, church bells were rung in celebration of his reported survival.[11] The commander of military intelligence Jonny Abdu reported that Gemayel had been taken to a hospital in Haifa by helicopter. The search and rescue teams on the field were unable to find him or his body.[12]

Gemayel's body was finally identified five and a half hours after the explosion by a Mossad agent in a church close to the site of the explosion where the dead were being collected. The face on the body was unrecognizable; he was identified by the white-gold wedding ring he was wearing and two letters he was carrying addressed to himself. It was concluded that he had been one of the first people moved to the church after the explosion.[12] Then–prime minister Shafik Wazzan confirmed the following morning that Gemayel had indeed been killed in the attack,[13] saying, "I face this shocking news with the strongest denunciation for this criminal act."[11]

Aftermath

Israeli occupation of Beirut

Following the news of Gemayel's assassination, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, and Chief of Staff Rafael Eitan agreed that the Israeli army should invade West Beirut. The public reason given was to be that they were there to prevent chaos. In a separate conversation, Sharon and Eitan agreed that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) should not enter the Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut, but that the Phalange should be used instead.[14]

Shortly after 6.00 a.m. on 15 September, the Israeli army entered West Beirut[15] in violation of a 1981 ceasefire brokered by the United States.[16][17] Between 1,300 and 3,500 civilians, mostly Palestinians and Lebanese Shia Muslims, were massacred by members of the Lebanese Forces militia in an alleged act of retaliation for the assassination, which was overseen by the IDF.

International response

The United Nations Security Council issued Resolution 520 demanding that Israel withdraw immediately from Lebanon. American President Ronald Reagan, who had been one of Gemayel's staunchest supporters, issued a statement of condolences for his death, saying "this promising young leader had brought the light of hope to Lebanon."[18][non-primary source needed]

Election of Amine Gemayel

Bachir Gemayel's older brother Amine Gemayel was not long after elected president, serving from 1982[5] to 1988. The elder Gemayel was elected during the first round of voting in Parliament; of the 80 members present, 77 ballots were cast in support with three left blank.[19] Amine Gemayel was widely regarded as more moderate than his brother. He never promised the Israelis anything in order to be elected president, but rather that he would follow the path of his brother, whatever that path was. He left his post in the Kataeb Party after the election.[20] Once elected, he refused to meet any Israeli official.[21][unreliable source?]

Habib Shartouni was held for eight years in Roumieh prison without an official trial, before escaping during the final Syrian offensive that marked the end of the Lebanese Civil War.[22] In the 1990s, he admitted his part in the assassination.[23] In interviews with Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar in the 2010s, Shartouni stated that after his escape, he resided in Syria, but did not not disclose his whereabouts at the time. He also denied visiting Lebanon since his escape from prison.[23][24]

During the third trial of Shartouni in 2017, protests by supporters of both the SSNP and the Kataeb Party blocked the road in front of the Justice Palace. A SSNP member interviewed by Al-Jadeed said Shartouni was "a hero the size of a nation".[25] On 20 October, the Judicial Council, Lebanon's highest state security court, sentenced Shartouni and Nabil Alam to death in absentia and stripped them of their civil rights.[26]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Phalangists Identify Bomber of Gemayel As Lebanese Leftist". The New York Times. Reuters. 3 October 1982. p. 19. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  2. ^ Bsisu, Naji (Spring 2012). "Israeli Domestic Politics and the War in Lebanon" (PDF). Lights: The MESSA Journal. 1 (3). University of Chicago; Middle Eastern Studies Student Association: 29–38. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  3. ^ The Fifty Years War: Israel and the Arabs (DVD video). The Big Picture. BBC. 1998. OCLC 900843337.[time needed]
  4. ^ Khalifeh, Nabil (2008). Lubnán fí strátíjiyyat kísinjar: muqáriba siyásiyya wa-jiyyú-strátíjiyya [Lebanon in Kissinger's Strategy: A Political and Geostrategic Comparison] (in Arabic). Byblos: Byblos Center for Studies and Research. p. 271.
  5. ^ a b Avon, Dominique; Khatchadourian, Anaïs-Trissa; Todd, Jane Marie (2012). Hezbollah: A History of the "'Party of God'. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674067523.[page needed]
  6. ^ Eisenberg, Laura Zittrain; Caplan, Neil (1998). Negotiating Arab-Israeli Peace: Patterns, Problems, Possibilities. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-253-21159-0. By 1982, the Israeli-Maronite relationship was quite the open secret, with Maronite militiamen training in Israel and high-level Maronite and Israeli leaders making regular reciprocal visits to one another's homes and headquarters.
  7. ^ "Sabra and Shatilla". Jewish Voice for Peace. n.d. Archived from the original on 30 October 2006.
  8. ^ Asser, Martin (14 September 2002). "Sabra and Shatila 20 years on". BBC News. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  9. ^ "Habib al-Shartouni: Striking the Head of Collaboration". Al Akhbar English. 23 July 2012. Archived from the original on 13 April 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  10. ^ O'Brien, Conor Cruise (1986). The Siege: The Saga of Israel and Zionism. New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 629. ISBN 978-0-671-60044-0.
  11. ^ a b Campbell, Colin (15 September 1982). "Gemayel of Lebanon is Killed in Bomb Blast at Party Offices". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  12. ^ a b Schiff, Ze'ev; Ya'ari, Ehud (1984). Israel's Lebanon war. Translated by Ina Friedman. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-47991-6.[page needed]
  13. ^ Friedman, Thomas L. (1990). From Beirut to Jerusalem. London: William Collins Sons. ISBN 978-0-00-215096-5.[page needed]
  14. ^ Kahan. pp. 13, 14[full citation needed]
  15. ^ Kahan. p. 15[full citation needed]
  16. ^ Ensalaco, Mark (2012). Middle Eastern Terrorism: From Black September to September 11. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 137. ISBN 978-0-8122-0187-1.
  17. ^ "The Accused". Panorama (transcript of broadcast). BBC News. 17 June 2001. Retrieved 22 July 2024. Ariel Sharon now decided to send his army into West Beirut, breaking a promise to the Americans that they would stay out of that part of the city.
  18. ^ "Statement on the Assassination of President-elect Bashir Gemayel of Lebanon". 14 September 1982. Retrieved 22 July 2024 – via Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum.
  19. ^ "Election of the Presidents of the Lebanese Republic". The Monthly Magazine. Beirut. 9 July 2014. Archived from the original on 1 January 2023.
  20. ^ "Anti-Gemayel 'front' formed in Lebanon". The Milwaukee Journal. 23 July 1983. ISSN 1052-4452. Retrieved 23 March 2013 – via News.google.com.[permanent dead link‍]
  21. ^ Maroun, Pierre (February–March 2003). "Dossier: Amine Gemayel". Middle East Intelligence Bulletin. 5 (2). Philadelphia: Middle East Forum. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  22. ^ "Naharnet — Lebanon's leading news destination". Naharnet.com. Retrieved 18 August 2016.[permanent dead link‍]
  23. ^ a b "Lebanese court issues death sentence over 1982 Gemayel assassination". Reuters. 20 October 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  24. ^ Diab, Afif (23 July 2012). "Habib al-Shartouni: Striking the Head of Collaboration". al-Akhbar. Archived from the original on 26 February 2017.
  25. ^ "Conflict Incident Report: Protests erupt as third trial on Bachir Gemayel assassination begins". Beirut: Civil Society Knowledge Centre, Centre for Social Sciences Research & Action. n.d. Archived from the original on 7 January 2024.
  26. ^ "Chartouni, Alam Sentenced to Death over Bashir Gemayel Assassination". Naharnet. 20 October 2017. Archived from the original on 10 November 2017.
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