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Bombing of the Palestine Research Center

UNSOLVED1976Hamra district, West Beirut, Lebanon3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026
Illustrative

The Palestine Research Center (PRC), also known as the PLO Research Center, was established in Beirut in 1965 by the Palestine Liberation Organization to collect and analyze materials on Palestinian history, culture, and politics. Based in a seven-storey building in the Hamra district of West Beirut, it was accorded diplomatic protection by the Lebanese government and grew into a major repository of Palestinian archival material, holding around 25,000 volumes and extensive microfilm and document collections by 1982.

During the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the Center was targeted twice by car bombings, in July and August 1982, before Israeli soldiers occupied the building in September and subsequently ransacked it, removing furniture, files, and equipment. On 15 September 1982, the library and microfilm holdings were loaded onto trucks and shipped to Israel as part of a broader Israeli operation to seize documents from PLO offices across Lebanon. Israeli officials characterized the Center as an intelligence-gathering body rather than a purely academic institution, while the PLO Research Center's director maintained the material concerned historical information on Arab families and villages in pre-1948 Palestine.

On 6 February 1983 (2 p.m. local time), a car bomb containing an estimated 150 kilograms of TNT destroyed the building housing the Center. Among those killed were Hanneh Shahin, the wife of then-director Sabri Jiryis, who had stopped by shortly before the weekend closing; three people who died of smoke inhalation after being trapped in an elevator; and the building's concierge and a telephone operator. The bombing is attributed to a car bomb placed by the Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners, described in the source material as an Israeli proxy group. Files that researchers had gathered after the 1982 raids, stored on one floor of the building, were also destroyed in the explosion.

In the aftermath, the PLO sought the return of the seized archive as a condition of a prisoner exchange with Israel. On 24 November 1983, Israeli and Palestinian prisoners were exchanged along with material Israel described as the PLO archive, which had reportedly been copied by Israel beforehand and was then shipped via the International Red Cross to Algeria. On 19 December 1983, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 38/180B condemning Israel for seizing and removing the archives. The whereabouts and condition of the material sent to Algeria remain uncertain. Separately, research by Israeli scholar Rona Sela indicated that some of the seized material remained in Israeli military archives in Tel Aviv as of 2008. The Center was later bombed again by Lebanese groups and eventually relocated to Nicosia, Cyprus.

Key facts

Victims
Hanneh Shahin
Date
1976
Location
Hamra district, West Beirut, Lebanon
Case status
unsolved

Case timeline

  1. 1965-02-28

    PLO executive committee decides to establish the Palestine Research Center; Fayiz Sayigh becomes first director.

  2. 1966

    Anis Sayigh replaces his brother Fayiz Sayigh as director.

  3. 1971

    The Center begins publishing Al-Watha'iq Al-Filastiniyya (The Palestinian Documents).

  4. 1976

    Anis Sayigh submits his resignation as director but continues in the role for another year.

  5. 1977

    Sabri Jiryis is appointed director, succeeding Anis Sayigh; Mahmoud Darwish runs the center in the transition period (1977-1978).

  6. 1982-07-13

    A car bomb explodes in a parking lot next to the Center, causing only minor damage.

  7. 1982-08-18

    PLO officers detect and evacuate people before another car bomb explodes in front of the Center, wounding four people.

  8. 1982-09

    Israeli soldiers occupy the PRC building for a week and subsequently ransack it, stealing and destroying furniture and equipment.

  9. 1982-09-15

    The Center's library and microfilm collections are loaded onto trucks and shipped to Israel.

  10. 1983-02-06

    A car bomb containing an estimated 150 kilograms of TNT destroys the building housing the Center, killing at least six people.

  11. 1983-11-24

    Israeli and Palestinian prisoners are exchanged along with material Israel described as the PLO archive, sent via the Red Cross to Algeria.

  12. 1983-12-19

    UN General Assembly adopts Resolution 38/180B condemning Israel for seizing and removing the archives.

  13. 1985-10-01

    Israeli air force destroys the PLO's headquarters in Hammam al-Shatt, Tunisia, prompting relocation of the archive within Algeria.

  14. 1992

    Sabri Jiryis returns to his native village of Fassuta in northern Israel, ending his direction of the Center's operations in Nicosia.

  15. 2001-08

    Israeli police raid and close down the PLO's Orient House headquarters in East Jerusalem, including the Arab Studies Society archives housed there.

  16. 2008

    Rona Sela, via Michael Sfard, obtains IDF confirmation that materials seized in Beirut still remain in IDF archives in Tel Aviv.

Best coverage

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People

  • Sabri Jiryis

    LAW ENFORCEMENT

    Director of the Palestine Research Center from 1977; sought restitution of seized archives and later rebuilt the collection.

  • Hanneh Shahin

    VICTIM

    Wife of PRC director Sabri Jiryis; killed in the 6 February 1983 car bombing while visiting the Center.

Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.

Places

Hamra district, West Beirut, Lebanon

33.8938, 35.5018

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Common questions

What happened to the victim?
In February 1983, a car bomb destroyed the Palestine Research Center in Beirut, killing at least six people, after the institute's library and archive had already been seized by Israeli forces during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon.
Where did the bombing happen?
Hamra district, West Beirut, Lebanon.
What is the current status of the case?
Status: unsolved.
More cases in Lebanon

Sources

  1. Palestine Research Centerwikipedia · Wikipedia · 2026-07-07
  2. 18 Die in Bombing at PLO's Center in Western Beirutnews · The New York Times · 2026-07-07
  3. 18 Die As Car Bomb Hits PLO Beirut Officenews · The Washington Post · 2026-07-07