Zaʿtar, Tall al-

▪ refugee camp, Lebanon

      former Palestinian refugee camp, Jabal Lubnān muḥāfaẓah (governorate), central Lebanon, north of Beirut, near Nabʿa. The camp was the last large Muslim outpost in the midst of the predominantly Christian inhabited area of north Lebanon and had a population estimated at 15,000 in the mid-1970s. During the Lebanese civil war (that began in the spring of 1975) between Muslims and Christians, the camp was decimated in August of 1976 after a 52-day siege by Christian militiamen aided by Syrian troops. About 1,600 people died during the siege, 4,000 were wounded, and 6,000 surrendered (many of whom were later killed), and the rest fled the camp. The destruction of Tall al-Zaʿtar in the Lebanese civil war completed the partitioning of Lebanon between Muslims in the south and Christians in the north.

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