The Kiryat Shmona massacre was an attack by three members of the
on civilians in the
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i town of
Kiryat Shmona
Kiryat Shmona ( he, קִרְיַת שְׁמוֹנָה, ''lit.'' Town of the Eight) is a city in the Northern District of Israel on the western slopes of the Hula Valley near the Lebanese border. The city was named after the eight people, includi ...
on 11 April 1974. Eighteen people were killed, nearly half of them children, and 16 were wounded.
The attack
On 11 April 1974, three members of the
crossed the
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i border from
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
. First, they entered the
Janusz Korczak
Janusz Korczak, the pen name of Henryk Goldszmit (22 July 1878 or 1879 – 7 August 1942), was a Polish Jewish educator, children's author and pedagogue known as ''Pan Doktor'' ("Mr. Doctor") or ''Stary Doktor'' ("Old Doctor"). After spending ma ...
middle school, but it was the
Passover
Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that celebrates the The Exodus, Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Ancient Egypt, Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew calendar, He ...
holiday and the school was unoccupied. They then decided to enter another building nearby. They killed many of that building's residents. The attackers then blew themselves up as Israeli soldiers stormed the building.
Modern Israel & the Diaspora (1970-1979)
Jewish Virtual Library
Aftermath
More attacks on northern Israel followed by Palestinian militants, including the Ma'alot massacre
The Ma'alot massacreSources describing the event as a "massacre":
* "The day after the Ma'alot massacre, condemned by Pope Paul VI and most Western leaders as 'an evil outrage…'" Frank Gervasi. ''Thunder Over the Mediterranean'', McKay, 1975 ...
the same year, the Savoy Hotel attack
The Savoy Hotel attack was a terrorist attack by the Palestine Liberation Organization against the Savoy Hotel in Tel Aviv, Israel, on 4–5 March 1975.
Background
The operation was planned by Abu Jihad.
Initial Palestinian planning had cal ...
and Kfar Yuval hostage crisis
The Kfar Yuval hostage crisis, which took place during 15 June 1975, was a raid by a squad of Palestinian militants belonging to the Arab Liberation Front on the Israeli moshav of Kfar Yuval in which the militants took residents as hostages an ...
in 1975, and multiple airplane hijacking acts, the most notable being Entebbe Operation in 1976.
See also
*List of massacres in Israel
List of massacres in Israel is a list of massacres that have occurred in Israel after the 1948 Palestine War.
*For massacres that have occurred in Roman Judea prior to the establishment of the Roman province of Syria Palæstina, see List of ...
*Palestinian political violence
Palestinian political violence refers to acts of violence perpetrated for political ends in relation to the State of Palestine or in connection with Palestinian nationalism. Common political objectives include self-determination in and soverei ...
External links
Israel Forces Attack 6 Lebanese Villages in Retaliatory Raids
- published on the Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
on 13 April 1974
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiryat Shmona Massacre
Spree shootings in Israel
Murdered Israeli children
1974 in Israel
Suicide bombing in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Mass murder in 1974
April 1974 events in Asia
Massacres in 1974
1974 murders in Israel