Ma'alot massacre
Encyclopedia
The Ma'alot massacre was a terrorist attack which included a two-day hostage-taking of 115 people which ended in the deaths of over 25 hostages. It began when three armed Palestinian terrorists of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
entered Israel
from Lebanon
. Soon afterwards they attacked a van, killing two Israeli Arab women and entered an apartment building in the town of Ma'alot, where they killed a couple and their four-year-old son. From there, they headed for the Netiv Meir elementary school, where they took more than 115 people (including 105 children) hostage on 15 May 1974, in Ma'alot. The hostage-takers soon issued demands for the release of 23 Palestinian militants from Israeli prisons, or else they would kill the students. On the second day of the standoff
, a unit of the Golani Brigade
stormed the building. During the takeover, the hostage-takers killed the children with grenades and automatic weapons. Ultimately, 25 hostages, including 22 children, were killed and 68 more were injured.
and Tunisia
. The attack was carried out by three members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
dressed in Israel Defense Force uniforms.
The terrorists infiltrated through the Nahal Mattat
nature reserve from south of the Lebanese village of Ramish
. The group entered Israel near Moshav
Zar'it
on Sunday night, May 13. They were armed with AK-47
assault rifles, hand grenade
s, and plastic explosives of Czechoslovakia
n manufacture. They hid until the next night in the orchards near the Druze
village of Hurfeish
. A border patrol unit discovered their footprints but could not follow the trail, and mistakenly reported to superiors that the footprints belonged to smugglers.
Proceeding to Ma'alot up the winding road, they encountered a van driven by a Druze resident of Hurfiesh bringing Christian Arab women from the village of Fassuta
home from work at the Ata textile works in the Haifa
Bay area. The leader of the operation, Lini, stood on the roadway and opened fire on the vehicle, instantly killing one woman, and wounding both the driver and other workers, one of whom later died of her wounds. The driver turned off the headlights and drove backwards up the hill towards Moshav Tzuriel
.
Reaching Ma'alot, the terrorists knocked on the doors of several homes. Fortuna and Yosef Cohen heard the noise and opened their door. The terrorists shot and killed the couple, their 4-year old son Eliahu and wounded their 5-year old daughter Miriam. Fortuna, seven months pregnant, tried to flee the intruders, but she was also shot. The only one in the family who survived unhurt was 16-month-old Yitzhak, a deaf-mute. From there, the terrorists headed for the Netiv Meir elementary school where students on a school trip were lodged. On the way, they met Yaakov Kadosh, a sanitation worker, and asked for directions to the school. They beat and shot him, leaving him for dead.
Netiv Meir elementary school was a three-story concrete building with apartment buildings under construction nearby. The terrorists entered the building at 4 a.m., taking 102 students hostage. Some managed to escape by jumping out of windows, but 85 students and several teachers were held hostage. The students were forced to sit on the floor at gunpoint, with explosive charges between them.
In the morning, the captors demanded the release from Israeli prisons of 23 Arab and three other prisoners, including Kozo Okamoto
- a Japanese national involved in the 1972 Lod Airport Massacre
. Unless these conditions were met, they declared that they would kill the students. The deadline was set for 6:00 p.m. the same day.
At 10 a.m. a young man named Sylvan Zerach, at home on leave from the Army, tried to climb a water tower not far from the school building to get a closer view of what was going on. He was shot to death by one of the hostage-takers.
At an emergency session of the Knesset
, a decision was reached to negotiate, but the hostage-takers turned down a request for more time.
Special Forces group was given the ‘green light’ to storm the building. The assault force was divided into three units; two to break in from the entrance while a third was to climb a ladder and enter from a window facing north. The squads moved into position from the blind side to the east, from the frames of some apartment buildings under construction. The operation was to have been coordinated with simultaneous sniper fire on the three hostage-takers. At 17:32 the first squad entered the building through the main entrance on the first floor, which was blocked with tables and chairs. The first three-man team, led by Yuval Galili of Kibbutz Geva
, was hit by gunfire on the stairs leading to the second floor. Galili threw a phosphorus grenade into the second floor hallway to create a smokescreen. The smoke from the explosion blinded the second team led by Amiran Levine, which had been ordered to take out Lini, at that time posted at the third floor window where he had shot Zerach.
When they broke into the classroom where the students were being held, Haribi grabbed a student, Gabi Amsalem, and held him at gunpoint on the floor. Rachim was shot dead but Lini managed to reach the classroom, grab ammunition clips from the teacher’s desk and reload his weapon. He then sprayed the students with machinegun fire and tossed grenades out the window. When a burst of fire broke his left wrist, he threw two grenades at a group of girls huddled on the floor. Several students leaped from the windows to the ground, some ten feet below.
Beside the three Palestinian militants, twenty-two high school students were killed in the attack, including Ilana Turgeman, Rachel Aputa, Yocheved Mazoz, Sarah Ben-Shim'on, Yona Sabag, Yafa Cohen, Shoshana Cohen, Michal Sitrok, Malka Amrosy, Aviva Saada, Yocheved Diyi, Yaakov Levi, Yaakov Kabla, Rina Cohen, Ilana Ne'eman, Sarah Madar, Tamar Dahan, Sarah Sofer, Lili Morad, David Madar and Yehudit Madar. Over 50 were wounded. The student victims were buried in their hometown, Safed. Some of the 10,000 mourners who attended the funerals chanted "Death to the terrorists."
report, the bombing inflicted damage in seven Palestinian refugee
camps and villages in southern Lebanon killing at least 27 people and leaving 138 injured.
The massacre led to the creation of the Yamam
special police unit.
Amos Horev
, President of Haifa's Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, headed a Commission of Inquiry in May 1975 that investigated the events of the massacre. His Commission Report listed a number of mistakes that were the responsibility of the Israeli political or security echelons, as well as recommendations.
A Reform synagogue in southern California is named Shir Ha-Ma'alot ("Song of Ascent") in memory of the victims.
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist, secular political and military organization. It is also frequently referred to as the Democratic Front, or al-Jabha al-Dimuqratiyah...
entered Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
from 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...
. Soon afterwards they attacked a van, killing two Israeli Arab women and entered an apartment building in the town of Ma'alot, where they killed a couple and their four-year-old son. From there, they headed for the Netiv Meir elementary school, where they took more than 115 people (including 105 children) hostage on 15 May 1974, in Ma'alot. The hostage-takers soon issued demands for the release of 23 Palestinian militants from Israeli prisons, or else they would kill the students. On the second day of the standoff
Impasse
A bargaining impasse occurs when the two sides negotiating an agreement are unable to reach an agreement and become deadlocked. An impasse is almost invariably mutually harmful, either as a result of direct action which may be taken such as a strike in employment negotiation or sanctions/military...
, a unit of the Golani Brigade
Golani Brigade
The Golani Brigade is an Israeli infantry brigade that is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. Its symbol is a green tree on a yellow background, and its soldiers wear a brown beret. It is one of the most highly decorated infantry units in the...
stormed the building. During the takeover, the hostage-takers killed the children with grenades and automatic weapons. Ultimately, 25 hostages, including 22 children, were killed and 68 more were injured.
The attack
Ma'alot, located on a plateau in the hills of the Western Galilee region of Israel, six miles south of the Lebanese border, is a development town founded in 1957 by Jewish immigrants, mainly from MoroccoMorocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
and Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
. The attack was carried out by three members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist, secular political and military organization. It is also frequently referred to as the Democratic Front, or al-Jabha al-Dimuqratiyah...
dressed in Israel Defense Force uniforms.
The terrorists infiltrated through the Nahal Mattat
Mattat
Mattat is a small communal settlement in northern Israel. Located near the Lebanese Border between the cities of Ma'alot-Tarshiha and Safed, it falls under the jurisdiction of Ma'ale Yosef Regional Council...
nature reserve from south of the Lebanese village of Ramish
Ramish
Ramish is an Azerbaijani guitarist and songwriter. He is known for his performance of traditional Azerbaijani folk music on guitar...
. The group entered Israel near Moshav
Moshav
Moshav is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists during the second aliyah...
Zar'it
Zar'it
Zar'it is an moshav in northern Israel. Located in the Upper Galilee near the Lebanese border, it falls under the jurisdiction of Ma'ale Yosef Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 250....
on Sunday night, May 13. They were armed with AK-47
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
assault rifles, hand grenade
Hand grenade
A hand grenade is any small bomb that can be thrown by hand. Hand grenades are classified into three categories, explosive grenades, chemical and gas grenades. Explosive grenades are the most commonly used in modern warfare, and are designed to detonate after impact or after a set amount of time...
s, and plastic explosives of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
n manufacture. They hid until the next night in the orchards near the Druze
Druze
The Druze are an esoteric, monotheistic religious community, found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, which emerged during the 11th century from Ismailism. The Druze have an eclectic set of beliefs that incorporate several elements from Abrahamic religions, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism...
village of Hurfeish
Hurfeish
Hurfeish is a Druze local council in the Northern District of Israel. It was declared a local council in 1967. according to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics it had in 2006 a total population of 5,200, with a growth rate of 1.9%....
. A border patrol unit discovered their footprints but could not follow the trail, and mistakenly reported to superiors that the footprints belonged to smugglers.
Proceeding to Ma'alot up the winding road, they encountered a van driven by a Druze resident of Hurfiesh bringing Christian Arab women from the village of Fassuta
Fassuta
Fassuta is a Israeli Arab town on the northwestern slopes of Mount Meron in the Northern District of Israel, south of the Lebanese border.In 2005, the population of Fassuta was 2,900.-History:...
home from work at the Ata textile works in the Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
Bay area. The leader of the operation, Lini, stood on the roadway and opened fire on the vehicle, instantly killing one woman, and wounding both the driver and other workers, one of whom later died of her wounds. The driver turned off the headlights and drove backwards up the hill towards Moshav Tzuriel
Tzuriel
Tzuriel is an moshav in northern Israel. Located in the Galilee, it falls under the jurisdiction of Ma'ale Yosef Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 304....
.
Reaching Ma'alot, the terrorists knocked on the doors of several homes. Fortuna and Yosef Cohen heard the noise and opened their door. The terrorists shot and killed the couple, their 4-year old son Eliahu and wounded their 5-year old daughter Miriam. Fortuna, seven months pregnant, tried to flee the intruders, but she was also shot. The only one in the family who survived unhurt was 16-month-old Yitzhak, a deaf-mute. From there, the terrorists headed for the Netiv Meir elementary school where students on a school trip were lodged. On the way, they met Yaakov Kadosh, a sanitation worker, and asked for directions to the school. They beat and shot him, leaving him for dead.
Netiv Meir elementary school was a three-story concrete building with apartment buildings under construction nearby. The terrorists entered the building at 4 a.m., taking 102 students hostage. Some managed to escape by jumping out of windows, but 85 students and several teachers were held hostage. The students were forced to sit on the floor at gunpoint, with explosive charges between them.
In the morning, the captors demanded the release from Israeli prisons of 23 Arab and three other prisoners, including Kozo Okamoto
Kozo Okamoto
was a 24-year-old botany student from a respectable middle-class family when he was recruited to the Japanese Red Army . He was later detained in Lebanon. During his stay in Lebanon, Okamoto converted to Islam in what was seen as an attempt to avoid being returned to Japan...
- a Japanese national involved in the 1972 Lod Airport Massacre
Lod Airport massacre
The Lod Airport massacre was a terrorist attack that occurred on May 30, 1972, in which three members of the Japanese Red Army, on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine , killed 26 people and injured 80 others at Tel Aviv's Lod airport...
. Unless these conditions were met, they declared that they would kill the students. The deadline was set for 6:00 p.m. the same day.
At 10 a.m. a young man named Sylvan Zerach, at home on leave from the Army, tried to climb a water tower not far from the school building to get a closer view of what was going on. He was shot to death by one of the hostage-takers.
At an emergency session of the Knesset
Knesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
, a decision was reached to negotiate, but the hostage-takers turned down a request for more time.
Takeover operation
At 17:25, the commander of the elite Sayeret MatkalSayeret Matkal
Sayeret Matkal is a special forces unit of the Israel Defence Forces , which is subordinated to the intelligence directorate Aman. First and foremost a field intelligence-gathering unit, conducting deep reconnaissance behind enemy lines to obtain strategic intelligence, Sayeret Matkal is also...
Special Forces group was given the ‘green light’ to storm the building. The assault force was divided into three units; two to break in from the entrance while a third was to climb a ladder and enter from a window facing north. The squads moved into position from the blind side to the east, from the frames of some apartment buildings under construction. The operation was to have been coordinated with simultaneous sniper fire on the three hostage-takers. At 17:32 the first squad entered the building through the main entrance on the first floor, which was blocked with tables and chairs. The first three-man team, led by Yuval Galili of Kibbutz Geva
Geva
-External links:*...
, was hit by gunfire on the stairs leading to the second floor. Galili threw a phosphorus grenade into the second floor hallway to create a smokescreen. The smoke from the explosion blinded the second team led by Amiran Levine, which had been ordered to take out Lini, at that time posted at the third floor window where he had shot Zerach.
When they broke into the classroom where the students were being held, Haribi grabbed a student, Gabi Amsalem, and held him at gunpoint on the floor. Rachim was shot dead but Lini managed to reach the classroom, grab ammunition clips from the teacher’s desk and reload his weapon. He then sprayed the students with machinegun fire and tossed grenades out the window. When a burst of fire broke his left wrist, he threw two grenades at a group of girls huddled on the floor. Several students leaped from the windows to the ground, some ten feet below.
Beside the three Palestinian militants, twenty-two high school students were killed in the attack, including Ilana Turgeman, Rachel Aputa, Yocheved Mazoz, Sarah Ben-Shim'on, Yona Sabag, Yafa Cohen, Shoshana Cohen, Michal Sitrok, Malka Amrosy, Aviva Saada, Yocheved Diyi, Yaakov Levi, Yaakov Kabla, Rina Cohen, Ilana Ne'eman, Sarah Madar, Tamar Dahan, Sarah Sofer, Lili Morad, David Madar and Yehudit Madar. Over 50 were wounded. The student victims were buried in their hometown, Safed. Some of the 10,000 mourners who attended the funerals chanted "Death to the terrorists."
Fatalities
Israeli response
The next day Israel Defence Force planes bombed offices and training bases of the DFLP and PFLP. According to a BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
report, the bombing inflicted damage in seven Palestinian refugee
Palestinian refugee
Palestinian refugees or Palestine refugees are the people and their descendants, predominantly Palestinian Arabic-speakers, who fled or were expelled from their homes during and after the 1948 Palestine War, within that part of the British Mandate of Palestine, that after that war became the...
camps and villages in southern Lebanon killing at least 27 people and leaving 138 injured.
The massacre led to the creation of the Yamam
Yamam
The Yamam ) is an elite Border police, not civilian Police counter-terrorism unit in Israel. The Yamam is capable of both hostage-rescue operations and offensive take-over raids against targets in civilian areas...
special police unit.
Amos Horev
Amos Horev
Amos Horev is an Israeli former Israeli Defense Forces major-general, Chief of Ordnance and subsequently Quartermaster General and Chief Scientist of the IDF, military expert, nuclear scientist, President of Technion University, and Chairman of Rafael.Horev has served on and headed a number of...
, President of Haifa's Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, headed a Commission of Inquiry in May 1975 that investigated the events of the massacre. His Commission Report listed a number of mistakes that were the responsibility of the Israeli political or security echelons, as well as recommendations.
Commemoration
In 2007, American filmmakers visited Ma'alot to film a documentary on the massacre. A memorial corner in the library of the Netiv Meir school displays photographs of the victims and archival footage on the massacre. A feature movie is also being planned.A Reform synagogue in southern California is named Shir Ha-Ma'alot ("Song of Ascent") in memory of the victims.
See also
- List of massacres in Israel
- Avivim school bus attacks
- Israeli casualties of war