Elie Hobeika
| Elie Hobeika | |
|---|---|
| إيلي حبيقة | |
| Leader of LF | |
| Preceded by | Fouad Abou Nader |
| Succeeded by | Samir Geagea |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 22 September 1956 Kleiat, Lebanon |
| Died | 24 January 2002 (aged 45) Beirut, Lebanon |
| Nationality | Lebanese |
| Spouse(s) | Gina Raymond Nachaty |
| Religion | Maronite Church |
Elie Hobeika (22 September 1956 – 24 January 2002; Arabic: إيلي حبيقة) was a Lebanese Phalangist and Lebanese Forces commander during the Lebanese Civil War, and former MP. Hobeika gained notoriety when he was named by the Israelis as one of the commanders of militiamen responsible for the massacre in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps on the outskirts of Beirut in 1982.
Hobeika was born in Kleiat in Keserwan District, Lebanon, to a Maronite family on 22 September 1956. According to The Guardian, he was deeply influenced by the massacre of much of his family and his fiancée by Palestinian militiamen in the Damour massacre of 1976.
Hobeika distinguished himself as a ruthless fighter, gaining the nickname "HK," after the Heckler and Koch machinegun he carried. In July 1977, Hobeika, then only known under the pseudonym "Chef Edward", led a massacre against civilians and Palestinian militants 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, which had defeated rival Christian militias by July 1980 and incorporated them into the Lebanese Forces (LF). In 1978, Hobeika became head of the LF's security agency (jihaz al-amin). He also became a personal bodyguard of Bashir Gemayel. In the years that followed, he developed close ties with both the Israeli military and the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
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