Kiryat Shmona massacre

Kiryat Shmona massacre
Part of Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon
IDF soldiers outside Janusz Korczak middle school
The attack site
Location	Kiryat Shmona, Israel
Date	April 11, 1974
Attack type	Shooting spree
Deaths	18 Israelis, including 8 children (+ 3 attackers)
Non-fatal injuries	15 Israelis
Perpetrators	3 Palestinian assailants. PFLP-GC claimed responsibility.

The Kiryat Shmona massacre was an attack by three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command on civilians in the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona on 11 April 1974. Eighteen people were killed and 16 were wounded.^[1]

The attack

On 11 April 1974, three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command crossed the Israeli border from Lebanon. First, they entered the Janusz Korczak middle school, but it was the Passover holiday and the school was unoccupied. They then decided to enter another building nearby. They killed many of that building's residents. The terrorists then blew themselves up as Israeli soldiers stormed the building.^[2]

Aftermath

More attacks on northern Israel followed by Palestinian terrorists, including the Ma'alot massacre the same year, the Savoy Hotel Attack and Kfar Yuval hostage crisis in 1975, and multiple airplane hijacking acts, the most notable being Entebbe Operation in 1976. Following the bloody attack on an Israeli bus on March 1978, Israel launched its first large-scale invasion into Lebanon to eradicate Palestinian bases.

See also

• List of massacres in Israel
• Palestinian political violence

External links

• Israel Forces Attack 6 Lebanese Villages in Retaliatory Raids - published on the Los Angeles Times on April 13, 1974

References

Prominent terrorist attacks against Israelis in the history of the Arab–Israeli conflict – the 1970s
1970	Swissair Flight 330 attack (February 21) Avivim school bus massacre (May 22)
1971	Murder of the Aroyo children (January 2)
1972	Sabena Flight 571 (May 8) Lod Airport massacre (May 30) Munich massacre (5–6 September) Israeli Bangkok Embassy hostage crisis (December 28)
1973	Assassination of the Israeli attache in Washington (July 1)
1974	Kiryat Shmona massacre (April 11) Ma'alot massacre (May 15) Nahariya attack (24–25 June) TWA Flight 841 bombing (September 8) Beit She'an attack (November 19)
1975	Savoy Hotel Attack (March 6) Kfar Yuval hostage crisis (June 15) Zion Square refrigerator bombing (July 4)
1976	Hijacking of Air France Flight 139 (June 27)
1978	Coastal Road massacre (March 11) ‡
1979	Nahariya massacre (April 22)
Attacks launched from the West Bank   Attacks launched from the Gaza Strip   Attacks launched from Lebanon   Attacks launched from Jordan ‡ indicates the terrorist attack which caused the greatest amount of Israeli casualties during the 1970s Full list of Lebanese rocket attacks on Israel 1960s 1980s

Prominent Palestinian militancy attacks in the 1970s
Within Israel	Avivim school bus massacre* (May 22, 1970) Lod Airport massacre (May 30, 1972) Kiryat Shmona massacre* (April 11, 1974) Ma'alot massacre* (May 15, 1974) Nahariya attack* (June 24–25, 1974) Beit She'an attack (November 19, 1974) Savoy Hotel Attack* (March 6, 1975) Kfar Yuval hostage crisis* (June 15, 1975) Zion Square refrigerator bombing (July 4, 1975) Coastal Road massacre* (March 11, 1978) Nahariya massacre* (April 22, 1979)
Within the Gaza Strip	Murder of the Aroyo children (January 2, 1971)
Aircraft attacks and hijackings	Swissair Flight 330 (February 21, 1970) Lufthansa Flight 649 (February 22–23, 1972) Sabena Flight 571 (May 8, 1972) Lufthansa Flight 615 (October 29, 1972) 1973 Rome airport attacks and hijacking (December 17–18, 1973) TWA Flight 841 (September 8, 1974) Air France Flight 139 (June 27, 1976)
Worldwide	Munich massacre (September 5–6, 1972) Israeli Bangkok embassy hostage crisis (December 28, 1972) Assassination of the Israeli attache in Washington (July 1, 1973)
* Attacks launched from Lebanon 1960s 1980s

Coordinates: 33°12′56″N 35°34′04″E / 33.21556°N 35.56778°E / 33.21556; 35.56778