Two British doctors and an American nurse testified today before the commission of inquiry investigating the west Beirut massacres. They were the first non-Israeli witnesses to appear before the panel. All were volunteers working at the Gaza Hospital in Beirut where Palestinians from the Shatila and Sobra refugee camps were treated for wounds.
Their testimony covered events in the camps from Wednesday, September 15, just before the Israeli army occupied west Beirut, until Saturday, September 18 by which time Christian Phalangist units had been ordered out of the camps by the Israelis. The massacres occurred Thursday and Friday, September 16 and 17.
The witnesses were Dr. Su Chai Ang, a Malaysian-born British subject, Dr. Paul Morris, and nurse Ellen Segal from the U.S. who is Jewish. They said they had not witnessed the massacres directly but saw many Palestinian men, women and children brought to the hospital suffering from wounds, beginning on Thursday night. Ang testified that about 30 corpses were placed in the hospital morgue, most of them women and children. The doctors said thousands of Palestinians came to the hospital asking for help and told of atrocities committed by the Phalangists.
The commission, meanwhile, released testimony taken earlier in closed session from an Israeli tank commander, Lt. Zvi Grabowsky, who said he witnessed the Phalangists kill five women and children from his position 500 yards outside the camps. Grabowsky said that when members of his crew reported this to their commanding officers, they were told “We know. It is not to our liking. Don’t interfere.”
Gen. Amin Drori, commander of Israeli forces in Beirut, told the commission yesterday that Israeli soldiers were under strict orders not to enter the camps.
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