Bahr El-Baqar primary school bombing

The Bahr el-Baqar primary school in the Egyptian village of Bahr el-Baqar (south of Port Said, in the eastern province of Sharqia) was bombed by the Israeli Air Force on 8 April 1970. Of the 130 children who attended the school, 46 were killed and over 50 wounded. The school itself was completely demolished.[1][2][3] The attack was carried out by Israeli Air Force F4 Phantom II fighter bombers, at 9:20 am on Wednesday 8 April. Five bombs and two air-to-ground missiles struck the single-floor school, which consisted of three classrooms.[1][2]

Bahr El-Baqar primary school bombing
School after bombing
LocationBahr El-Baqar, Egypt
Date8 April 1970
TargetSchool
Attack type
Aerial bombing
Deaths46
Injured50+
PerpetratorIsraeli Air Force
Motive
  • Accidental strike on a presumed military target (Israeli sources). Deliberate massacre/war crime to impose ceasefire (Arab and Egyptian sources)

There has been significant dispute between both parties and their allies over the motive of the attack and, consequently, its appropriate designation. While Egyptian and Arab sources regard the attack as a deliberate massacre and war crime intended to impose a ceasefire,[3][4][5][6] Israeli and Western sources consider it to be a human error on the Israeli side made under the impression that the school was an Egyptian military installation.[7][8][9][10][11]

The attack was conducted as part of a series of deep penetration strikes named Operation Priha, which also included the earlier bombing of Abu Zaabal factory, where 80 civilian workers were killed. While the Abu Zaabal bombing was immediately stated by the Israeli government to be mistake, the bombing of Bahr El-Baqar was repeatedly defended by then-Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, and Israeli envoy to the UN Yosef Tekoah, at the time, arguing that the school was inside a military installation.[12] Israeli officials claimed to have collected images of the school by reconnaissance satellite consistent with military settings and that some students were receiving military training.[12]

Background
Memorial to the victims of the bombing.
Injured victims

The bombing occurred during the War of Attrition (1967–1970) as part of Operation Priha's deep penetration strategy which aimed to relieve the conflict along the line of contact on the Suez Canal by striking deep targets and to urge Nasser into a truce.

Aftermath

When asked about the incident, Moshe Dayan said: "We have checked and re-checked and there was no mistake this time" and "Maybe the Egyptians put elementary students in a military base." Speaking about the incident, Egyptian commander Abdelatim Ramadan said: "Actually, two targets were hit by the Israelis. The first target was a group of military bases about 30 km from the Suez Canal, which were targeted before, on the night of 18–19 December 1969. The second target was the Bahr El-Baqar primary school."[13]

The townspeople denied that there was any military presence in the town at the time of the bombing.[14]

The attack is considered a contributing factor to Israel's decision to suspend other deep strikes originally planned in operation Priha.[11]

In 2016, reports circulated about prospective reimbursements for the historical killings being planned to further promote Egypt–Israel relations.[15]

References
  1. Hammad, Gamal (8–14 October 1998). "Setting the Stage". Al-Ahram Weekly (Online). No. 398. Archived from the original on 5 June 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  2. "Years of Horror, Years of Hope". Al-Ahram Weekly. No. 462. 30 December 1999. 1960–1969. Archived from the original on 26 August 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  3. Ali, Randa (8 April 2016). "Egypt's Bahr Al-Baqar: Flashbacks of an Israeli war crime". Ahram Online. Archived from the original on 1 May 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  4. Muhammad Ali, Esraa; Nady, Moataz (8 April 2013). «بحر البقر».. عندما تصبح مدرسة «هدفًا عسكريًا» لإسرائيل [Bahr El-Baqar … When a School Turns into a "Military Target" for Israel]. Al-Masry Al-Youm. Archived from the original on 6 May 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  5. Weiss, Philip (1 April 2018). "A brief, unhappy history of Israeli massacres". Mondoweiss. Archived from the original on 1 April 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  6. 49 عاما على مجزرة مدرسة بحر البقر [49 Years since the Massacre of Bahr El-Baqar School] (in Arabic). Al Jazeera. 7 April 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  7. "Middle East: In Cold Blood". Time. 1 June 1970. Archived from the original on 28 April 2009.
  8. Shalom, Danny (2007). רוח רפאים מעל קהיר : חיל האויר המלחמת ההתשה (1967–1970) [Phantoms over Cairo – Israeli Air Force in the War of Attrition (1967–1970)] (in Hebrew). Bavir Aviation & Space Publications. ISBN 978-965-90455-2-5.
  9. Bregman, Ahron (2016). Israel's Wars: A History Since 1947. London; New York: Taylor & Francis. p. 103. ISBN 978-1-317-29637-9.
  10. Landau, David (2014). Arik: The Life of Ariel Sharon. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Ch. 2: Probationer. ISBN 978-0-385-35109-6. Israel's deep bombing campaign came to a peremptory end in April, when Phantom jets mistakenly bombed an elementary school, killing forty-seven children and injuring another fifty.
  11. Dunstan, Simon (2012). Israeli Fortifications of the October War 1973. Oxford; New York: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-78200-431-8. Retrieved 25 January 2021. On 13 April 1970, Israel suspended its deep penetration raids into Egypt for fear of provoking the Soviet Union further, although a botched bombing raid that killed 47 Egyptian children and wounded 30 others in an elementary school in the village of Bahr El-Bakr was a contributory factor.
  12. "Dayan States if Israeli Planes Did Hit School It Was Inside Military Installation". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 10 April 1970. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  13. Kabha, Mustafa (1995). חרב אל־אסתנזאף : מלחמת ההתשה בראי המקורות המצריים [The War of Attrition as Reflected in Egyptian Sources] (in Hebrew). Yad Tabenkin; Tel-Aviv University. p. 107.
  14. "No arms evident in Egyptian town". New York Times. 13 April 1970.
  15. Soliman, Mohamed (10 May 2016). "Renewing the Alliance: How Egypt and Israel Saved Their Relationship". Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 25 January 2021.

Remembering 8 April 1970: The Bahr Al-Baqar School Bombing Tragedy. Egyptian Streets.

30°51′35″N 31°54′54″E

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