Qibya massacre: Encyclopedia II - Qibya massacre - Events leading up to the attack

Qibya massacre - Events leading up to the attack

The attack was the result of escalating border clashes which had begun almost immediately after the signing of the armistice in 1949. The state of Israel was confronted by a wave of Palestinian infiltrations. The Jordanian Arab Legion proved unwilling or unable to stop many infiltrations. In 1951, 137 Israelis, mostly civilians, were killed by such infiltrators. The following year, the death toll was 162. In 1953, 160 Israelis were killed.

On October 12, 1953, an unarmed Jewish mother and her two children were killed in a raid by Jordanian infiltrators in the Israeli town of Yahud. The Israeli government decided to carry out a retaliatory operation against the village of Qibya in the West Bank. The order was given by Defense Minister Pinhas Lavon. The Israeli elected governing cabinet was not informed, and apparently acting Prime Minister Moshe Sharett was, according to some sources, also not informed of the order. On October 13, at the meeting with the MAC (Mixed Armistice Commission), the Jordanian representative denounced the attack on Yahud and promised Israel full cooperation in tracking down the murderers. Jordan asked Israel to refrain from retaliation. (The Iron Wall, Avi Shlaim, pp 90–93) Sharett said later that "the Commander of the Jordan Legion, Glubb Pasha, had asked for police bloodhounds to cross over from Israel to track down the Yahud attackers" (Jerusalem Post, 31 October 1965).

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Events leading up to the attack", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki