1979 Nahariya attack | |
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Part of Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon | |
Native name | הפיגוע בנהריה ב-1979 |
Location | Nahariya, Israel |
Coordinates | 33°0′51″N 35°5′29″E / 33.01417°N 35.09139°E |
Date | 22 April 1979 |
Attack type | Shooting spree, Kidnapping |
Deaths | 4 Israeli civilians, including 2 children (+ 2 attackers) |
Perpetrator | Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) claimed responsibility. |
No. of participants | 4 |
The 1979 Nahariya attack (codenamed by its perpetrators as the Nasser Operation) was a raid by four Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) militants in Nahariya, Israel on 22 April 1979.
The group, consisting of Abdel Majeed Asslan, Mhanna Salim al-Muayed, and Ahmed al-Abras, and led by 16-year-old Samir Kuntar, used a small, 55 horsepower (41 kW) boat to travel from Tyre, Lebanon to Israel. During the attack they killed three Israelis, including a father and two of his young children. Another child was accidentally suffocated in efforts to hide her from the attackers. Kuntar and al-Abras were captured, convicted of murder by an Israeli court, and sentenced to several life sentences. Kuntar denied killing the civilians, saying they were killed by Israeli forces' fire.[1] Both Kuntar and al-Abras were later set free in prisoner swap deals conducted between Israel and Lebanese militant organizations – al-Abras in 1985, and Kuntar in 2008.
In retaliation for the attack, Israeli forces bombarded a Palestinian refugee camp, killing three civilians.[2]