Location Bahr El-Baqar, Egypt Attack type Aerial school bombing Deaths 46 | Date April 8, 1970 Weapons Aerial bombs Non-fatal injuries 50+ | |
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The Bahr el-Baqar primary school in Bahr el-Baqar (province of Sharqia Governorate, Egypt), was bombed by the Israeli Air Force on 8 April 1970. The raid killed 46 children. Afterwards, Israel claimed to be under the impression that the school was an Egyptian military installation.
Of the 130 school children who attended the school, 46 were killed and over 50 wounded. The school itself was completely demolished.
The attack was carried out by Israeli Air Force F4 Phantom II fighter bombers, at 9:20 am on Wednesday April 8. Five bombs and 2 air-to-ground missiles struck the single-floor school, which consisted of 3 classrooms.
Background
It happened during the War of Attrition (1967–1970). Israel claims that it had thought the school was an Egyptian military installation.
When asked about the incident, Israeli Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan said: "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. [ ... ] There comes a time to acknowledge an important fact in this area, that at those black days of Israeli bombing, the military targets were mixed with civilian targets. We can even say that in many cases the military targets were hiding behind civilian targets."