Karantina massacre

The Karantina massacre took place early in the Lebanese Civil War on January 18, 1976. With the breakdown in authority of the Lebanese government the militancy of radical factions increased. Black Saturday preceded Karantina by six weeks.

Karantina was a predominantly Palestinian Muslim slum district in mostly Christian east Beirut controlled by forces of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), inhabited by Kurds, Syrians, Armenians and Palestinians. The fighting and subsequent killings also involved an old quarantine area near the port and nearby Maslakh quarter.

Karantina was overrun by militias of the right-wing and mostly Christian Lebanese Front, resulting in the deaths of approximately 1,000-1,500 people, mostly Muslims. After Kataeb Regulatory Forces (KRF), Guardians of the Cedars (GoC), NLP Tiger militia and Lebanese Youth Movement (LYM) forces took control of the Karantina district on 18 January 1976, Tel al-Zaatar was placed under siege, leading to the Tel al-Zaatar massacre.

The Damour massacre was a reprisal for the Karantina massacre.