Avivim school bus massacre
Encyclopedia
The Avivim school bus massacre was a terrorist attack on an Israel
i school bus on May 8, 1970 in which 12 Israeli civilians were killed, nine of them children, and 25 were wounded. The attack took place on the road to Moshav Avivim
, near Israel's border with Lebanon
. Two bazooka
shells were fired at the bus. The attack was one of the first carried out by the PFLP-GC.
was set up. As the bus passed by, ten minutes after leaving Avivim, it was attacked by heavy gunfire from both sides of the road. The driver was amongst those hit in the initial barrage
, as were the two other adults on board. The three were killed as the bus crashed into an embankment
as the attackers continued firing into the vehicle.
The attackers were never apprehended.
. A monument commemorating the victims of the attack stands in the middle of the moshav.
by shelling four Lebanese villages, killing 20 people, injuring 40, and spurring thousands of southern Lebanon's residents to flee north. This in turn provided one of the motivations for the Dawson's Field hijackings
of September 6, 1970. The IDF also began patrolling regularly inside southern Lebanon after the massacre.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i school bus on May 8, 1970 in which 12 Israeli civilians were killed, nine of them children, and 25 were wounded. The attack took place on the road to Moshav Avivim
Avivim
Avivim , is an Israeli moshav in the far north of Israel, in the Upper Galilee. It is located less than one kilometre from the Lebanese border, and on the land of the depopulated Shiite village of Salha ....
, near Israel's border with Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
. Two bazooka
Bazooka
Bazooka is the common name for a man-portable recoilless rocket antitank weapon, widely fielded by the U.S. Army. Also referred to as the "Stovepipe", the innovative bazooka was amongst the first-generation of rocket propelled anti-tank weapons used in infantry combat...
shells were fired at the bus. The attack was one of the first carried out by the PFLP-GC.
The attack
Early in the morning, the bus departed from Avivim heading with its passengers to two local schools. This route had been scouted by the militants, believed to have infiltrated from Lebanon, and an ambushAmbush
An ambush is a long-established military tactic, in which the aggressors take advantage of concealment and the element of surprise to attack an unsuspecting enemy from concealed positions, such as among dense underbrush or behind hilltops...
was set up. As the bus passed by, ten minutes after leaving Avivim, it was attacked by heavy gunfire from both sides of the road. The driver was amongst those hit in the initial barrage
Barrage
Barrage may refer to:In music* Barrage , a Canadian violin ensemble, or* Barrage , their self-titled debut albumIn engineering...
, as were the two other adults on board. The three were killed as the bus crashed into an embankment
Embankment (transportation)
To keep a road or railway line straight or flat, and where the comparative cost or practicality of alternate solutions is prohibitive, the land over which the road or rail line will travel is built up to form an embankment. An embankment is therefore in some sense the opposite of a cutting, and...
as the attackers continued firing into the vehicle.
The attackers were never apprehended.
Fatalities
The children, who were in first to third grade, were buried in a special plot in SafedSafed
Safed , is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel. Due to its high elevation, Safed experiences warm summers and cold, often snowy, winters...
. A monument commemorating the victims of the attack stands in the middle of the moshav.
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Aftermath
Israel retaliated for the massacreMassacre
A massacre is an event with a heavy death toll.Massacre may also refer to:-Entertainment:*Massacre , a DC Comics villain*Massacre , a 1932 drama film starring Richard Barthelmess*Massacre, a 1956 Western starring Dane Clark...
by shelling four Lebanese villages, killing 20 people, injuring 40, and spurring thousands of southern Lebanon's residents to flee north. This in turn provided one of the motivations for the Dawson's Field hijackings
Dawson's Field hijackings
In the Dawson's Field hijackings five jet aircraft bound for New York City were hijacked by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine...
of September 6, 1970. The IDF also began patrolling regularly inside southern Lebanon after the massacre.