The London-based Palestinian Return Center (PRC) has called on the UN to reopen the file of the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre, carry out a thorough investigation into it, and take legal action against those responsible at a special international court.

This came in a report submitted recently to the UN Human Rights Council about the massacre, which took place in Beirut 39 years ago, when Israeli-allied militiamen stormed the Sabra and Shatila refugee camp in west Beirut and killed up to 3,500 people mostly Palestinians.

According to PRC, the report was added to the official archives of the UNHRC under code reference A_HRC_48_NGO_68-EN.

It stressed the need for the international community to bear full responsibility for defending the rights of the victims, ensuring compensation for them and prosecuting all those who were involved in the massacre.

“It took place during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 after the Israeli occupation soldiers had besieged the camp. Although those who carried out the massacre were actually from the Lebanese militias, it was the Israeli military that provided their protection and facilitated their mission,” PRC said in its report.