Ma'alot massacre
1974 terrorist attack by Palestinian militants in Israel / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Ma'alot massacre[1] was a Palestinian terrorist attack that occurred on 14–15 May 1974 and involved the hostage-taking of 115 Israelis, chiefly school children, which ended in the murder of 25 hostages and six other civilians. It began when three armed members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP)[2] infiltrated Israel from Lebanon. Soon afterwards they attacked a van, killing two Israeli Arab women while injuring a third, and entered an apartment building in the town of Ma'alot, where they killed a couple and their four-year-old son.[3] From there, they headed for the Netiv Meir Elementary School in Ma'alot, where in the early hours of 15 May 1974 they took hostage more than 115 people including 105 children. Most of the hostages were 14- to 16-years-old students[4] from a high school in Safad on a pre-military Gadna field trip spending the night in Ma'alot. The hostage-takers soon issued demands for the release of 23 Palestinian militants and 3 others from Israeli prisons, or else they would kill the students. The Israeli side agreed, but the hostage-takers failed to get an expected coded message from Damascus. On 15 May, minutes before the 18:00 deadline set by the DFLP for killing the hostages, the Sayeret Matkal commandoes stormed the building. During the takeover, the hostage-takers killed children with grenades and automatic weapons. Ultimately, 25 hostages, including 22 children, were killed and 68 more were injured.
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Ma'alot massacre | |
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Part of the Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon | |
Location | Ma'alot, Israel |
Coordinates | 33°01′00″N 35°17′09″E |
Date | 15 May 1974; 50 years ago (1974-05-15) |
Target | Netiv Meir elementary school |
Attack type | Spree killing, hostage taking, school shooting |
Deaths | 31 Israelis (+3 attackers) |
Injured | 70 Israelis |
Perpetrators | 3 DFLP gunmen |