The Ein Ofarim killings was an attack by

Palestinian Fedayeen Palestinian fedayeen (from the Arabic ''fidā'ī'', plural ''fidā'iyūn'', فدائيون) are militants or guerrillas of a nationalist orientation from among the Palestinian people. Most Palestinians consider the fedayeen to be " freedom fig ...

, which occurred on Wednesday night, 12 September 1956.

The attack

On Wednesday night, 12 September 1956, a Palestinian

Fedayeen Fedayeen ( ar, فِدائيّين ''fidāʼīyīn'' "self-sacrificers") is an Arabic term used to refer to various military groups willing to sacrifice themselves for a larger campaign. Etymology The term ''fedayi'' is derived from Arabic: '' ...

squad infiltrated into Israel from

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

. The militants attacked the Ein Ofarim oil-drilling camp near the village

Hatzeva Hatzeva ( he, חֲצֵבָה) is a moshav in southern Israel. Located in the Arabah, Arava, 12 km north of Ein Yahav, it falls under the jurisdiction of Central Arava Regional Council. In it had a population of . History Antiquity Hatzeva ...

, while other personnel were out of the camp for grocery shopping. They killed 3

Druze The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...

watchmen, one in his room. The bodies of the guards were stabbed and their guns were stolen by the attackers.

Victims

The three victims, Nawaf Abu-Ghazi (25 years), Suleiman Hatoum (25 years) and Rafik Abdullah (23 years), were burried in their hometown of Sumei. They were commemorated on

Mount Herzl Mount Herzl ( he, הַר הֶרְצְל ''Har Hertsl''), also ''Har ha-Zikaron'' ( lit. "Mount of Remembrance"), is the site of Israel's national cemetery and other memorial and educational facilities, found on the west side of Jerusalem beside ...

Aftermath

With consulting his Cabinet, the

Israeli Prime Minister The prime minister of Israel ( he, רֹאשׁ הַמֶּמְשָׁלָה, Rosh HaMemshala, Head of the Government, Hebrew acronym: he2, רה״מ; ar, رئيس الحكومة, ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief exec ...

decided on a reprisal raid. Since the nearest Jordanian police fort was 'topologically difficult', the police fort 80 kilometers away at Gharandal was chosen. During the operation, either 9 or 13 Jordanian police and members of a desert camel patrol unit were killed, along with two civilians. IDF casualties in the operation included one dead soldier and 12 wounded soldiers. The police station and nearby structures were destroyed.

References

{{Palestinian militancy attacks in the 1950s Terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians before 1967 1956 murders in Israel Terrorist attacks attributed to Palestinian militant groups Terrorist incidents in Asia in 1956 Terrorist incidents in Israel in the 1950s Terrorist incidents involving knife attacks Stabbing attacks in Israel Palestinian Fedayeen insurgency History of the Druze Druze community in Israel