Misgav Am hostage crisis
| Misgav Am Terrorist Attack | |
|---|---|
| Part of Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon | |
  The attack site
|
|
| Location | Misgav Am, Israel |
| Date | April 7–8, 1980 |
|
Attack type
|
hostage-taking |
| Weapons | AK-47 assault rifles and hand grenades |
| Deaths | 3 Israelis (+ 5 attackers) |
|
Non-fatal injuries
|
11 Israeli soldiers |
| Perpetrators | Five Palestinian militants. Arab Liberation Front claimed responsibility. |
The Misgav Am hostage crisis, which began during the night of April 7, 1980, was a raid carried out by a squad of five Palestinian militants belonging to the Iraqi-backed Arab Liberation Front militant organization, on the northern Israeli kibbutz of Misgav Am in which the militants captured a group of toddlers and babies in the children's sleeping quarters of the kibbutz and held them as hostages. The event ended the next day with the takeover of the terrorist stronghold by Israeli special forces.
During the incident three Israelis were killed: a two-year-old, and a 38-year-old kibbutz member were murdered, and one Israeli soldier died in a rescue attempt. Four other children, a kibbutz member, and 11 Israeli soldiers were injured during the attack.
During the night of Monday, April 7, 1980, a squad of five Palestinian militants, belonging to the Iraqi-backed Arab Liberation Front militant organization, armed with AK-47 assault rifles and hand grenades, cut the border fence between Israel and Lebanon at around 01:00 am. The squad then crossed the border and managed to sneak into Kibbutz Misgav Am, located in northern Israel. Upon reaching the center of the kibbutz undetected, the squad arrived at the children's sleeping quarters, where children aged 1½ to 3 slept, supervised by some of their parents.
At the entrance to the dormitory, the militant squad encountered the kibbutz secretary Sammy (Samuel) Shani, who happened to be at the site repairing the building's light fixtures. With only a screwdriver in his hand, he attempted to block the entrance, but was shot dead by the militants.
The militants then entered the building and killed two-year-old Eyal Gluska, and snatched two babies from their cribs (one of whom was Sammy Shani's two-month-old son). The militants ran up to the second floor together with the two babies they took, where they barricaded themselves, and where five more toddlers and an adult named Meir Peretz were sleeping. Kibbutz members managed to rescue several women and children from the building during the raid.
At about 02:30 am, Israeli military forces surrounded the dormitory building and began to negotiate with the militants.
In all, two rescue attempts were made: The first was carried out by Sayeret Golani of the Golani Brigade, and failed. During that attempt, 19-year-old Israel Defense Forces (IDF) medic and combat soldier Eldad Tsafrir was killed by the militants. Tsafrir's body remained lying in the entrance to the building, as no one was capable of evacuating it.
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Wikipedia