Ливан саяхаты: Эли Хубейканың өмірі мен трагедиясы

Lebanese politician and militia commander

Elie Hobeika (also transliterated as Hubayqa; إيلي حبيقة; 22 September 1956 – 24 January 2002) was a Lebanese Maronite militia commander in the Lebanese Forces militia during the Lebanese Civil War and one of Bashir Gemayel's close confidants. After the murder of Gemayel, he gained notoriety for his direct involvement in, and overseeing of, the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre. Hobeika initially supported the IDF during their invasion, but later switched sides and supported the Syrians. He became president of the Lebanese Forces political party until he was ousted in 1986. He then founded the Promise Party and was elected to serve two terms in the Parliament of Lebanon. In January 2002, he was assassinated by a car bomb at his house in Beirut, shortly before he was to testify about the Sabra and Shatila massacre in a Belgian court.

Hobeika was born in Qleiat in Keserwan District, Lebanon, to a Maronite family on 22 September 1956. According to The Guardian, he was deeply influenced by the deaths of much of his family and his fiancée by Palestinian militiamen in the Damour massacre of 1976.

Hobeika distinguished himself as a ruthless fighter in the Lebanese Civil War, gaining the nickname "HK" after the Heckler & Koch machine gun he carried. In July 1977, Hobeika, then only known under the pseudonym "Chef Edward", led a massacre against civilians and Palestinian people in the south Lebanese village of Yarin where about 80 people of which probably 20 to 30 were civilians were lined up in front of the school and shot. He steadily became prominent in the Phalange, part of the pro Christian Kataeb Party, which had defeated rival Christian militias by July 1980 and incorporated them into the Lebanese Forces (LF). Over the next three days, the LF killed between 762 and 3,500 residents of the camp. However, then he began to support Syria's presence in Lebanon. Geagea was especially displeased that Hobeika had changed his allegiance to Syria. In 2000, Hobeika lost his parliament seat, due to active Syrian interference against him in the election.

Hobeika married Gina Raymond Nachaty in 1981. The explosion killed his three bodyguards as well, and wounded six more people.

A group, Lebanese for a Free and Independent Lebanon, issued a statement after the assassination, claiming responsibility for the killing of Hobeika. The group announced that it killed Hobeika, since he was a "Syrian agent" and an "effective tool" in the hands of Ghazi Kenaan, the then head of Syrian military intelligence. Prior to his assassination, Elie Hobeika had stated: "I am very interested that the [Belgian] trial starts because my innocence is a core issue."

President Emile Lahoud and Hezbollah condemned the assassination of Hobeika and blamed Israel.