The Negev desert road ambush was a terrorist attack which occurred on Thursday, 4 October 1956.

The attack

During the afternoon of 4 October 1956, a squad of 10 armed 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: '' ...

militants infiltrated 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 ...

. In broad daylight, the militants swooped down on two

jeep Jeep is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner American Moto ...

s on the Sodom–Beer Sheva road ( Highway 25), which were traveling on the road section which goes through the southern part of the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea ( he, יַם הַמֶּלַח, ''Yam hamMelaḥ''; ar, اَلْبَحْرُ الْمَيْتُ, ''Āl-Baḥrū l-Maytū''), also known by other names, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank ...

, 7 miles west of the Jordanian border with Israel. The vehicles were carrying employees of the

Solel Boneh Solel Boneh ( he, סולל בונה, lit. ''Paving and Building'') is the oldest, and one of the largest, construction and civil engineering companies in Israel. History During British rule (1921-1948) Solel Boneh was founded in 1921 in British ...

company. The militants began by attacking the first vehicle with machine gun fire, killing all four of the passengers in the car. Afterwards the militants attacked the second vehicle. One of the passengers in the second car jumped out in an attempt to escape the militants and save his life. The militants killed him as well with machine-gun fire. Only one person, an American engineer who was driving the second car, managed to escape the incident.

Fatalities

* Gabriel Benjamin Dahan (born 1931) * Ephraim Waldman (born 1907) * Arie Lahav (born 1921) * Jacob Lustig (born 1916)

Aftermath

The squad members were arrested on their return to Jordan by a Jordanian police force. Shortly thereafter, King

Hussein of Jordan Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of ...

ordered the release of the assailants. An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman blamed the killings on a "well trained and organized group from Jordan." He also stated that the incident "shows a continuation of Jordan's policy of aggression and border harassment".

Operation Samaria

As a result, Israel decided to retaliate in response to Negev desert road ambush and to an 4 October attack in which infiltrators from Jordan killed two Israeli laborers in an orchard near

Even Yehuda Even Yehuda ( he, אֶבֶן יְהוּדָה) is a town in the central Sharon region of Israel east of Netanya. In it had a population of . History The area of Even Yehuda has been inhabited intermittently since the Middle Paleolithic age, wit ...

and cut off their ears. On 10 October, the

Israeli military The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branc ...

conducted a

counterattack A counterattack is a tactic employed in response to an attack, with the term originating in "war games". The general objective is to negate or thwart the advantage gained by the enemy during attack, while the specific objectives typically seek ...

codenamed Operation Samaria in which the IDF attacked the

Qalqilya Qalqilya or Qalqiliya ( ar, قلقيلية, Qalqīlyaḧ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank which serves as the administrative center of the Qalqilya Governorate of the State of Palestine. In the 2007 census, the city had a population of 41, ...

police station at the

Tegart fort A Tegart fort is a type of militarized police fort constructed throughout Palestine during the British Mandatory period, initiated as a measure against the 1936–1939 Arab Revolt. Etymology The forts are named after their designer, British p ...

. After a fierce battle the fort was blown up. 18 IDF soldiers died in the operation and 68 were injured. About 88 Jordanians were killed and 15 were wounded.

References

External links

Israel Reports Five Slayings. Arabs Are Accused
- published on

Milwaukee Journal The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently o ...

on 5 October 1956 {{Palestinian militancy attacks in the 1950s Terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians before 1967 1956 in Israel Terrorist attacks attributed to Palestinian militant groups Mass murder in 1956 Terrorist incidents in Asia in 1956 Terrorist incidents in Israel in the 1950s Palestinian Fedayeen insurgency