2025-07-19 22:09 <br/> Tags: #Event #Israel #Palestine # Qibya Massacre - The Qibya Massacre was a massacre of Palestinians by the IDF on October 5, 1953. - The massacre was executed as a revenge operation in response to fedayeen terror attacks on Israel. - The Palestinian fedayeen - "those who self sacrifice"- had been infiltrating Israel with the backing of Egypt since the early 50s. - The Fedayeen were the immediate Palestinian guerilla-resistance to Israel after the [[1948 Arab Israeli War]]. - In the summer of 1953, [[David Ben-Gurion]] established a new and secret IDF detail which would deal with punitive operations against fedayeen and appointed a young future Prime Minister [[Ariel Sharon]] to command it. - After a rocky start to Sharon's group, he gets the greenlight to form an elite commando unit with himself in full control. - [[Unit 101]] came into being on August 10, 1953 with Sharon fully unleashed. - In the fall of 1953, a fedayeen attack killing a woman and two children in the West Bank was used as the pretext for Sharon. - Sharon picked the village Qibya to destroy at random as retaliation. - On October 15, 1953, [[Ariel Sharon]] led [[Unit 101]] into Qibya with thousands of pounds of explosives. - The Jews proceeded to explode houses and kill dozens of civilians, 69 total. - Sharon personally ordered "maximal killing and damage to property." ![[image-56.png|394x282]] *Ariel Sharon center left and Moshe Dayan center right 1956* ### After the Raid - After the raid, the world reacted in horror with the UN security council and the State Dept vocally condemning Israel and revoking aid. - [[David Ben-Gurion]] lied about the raid claiming it was rogue Israelis and that "All IDF units were at their bases." - In private Ben Gurion and IDF chief of staff [[Moshe Dayan]], who played a role in the massacre's planning, were more than pleased with Sharon and the raid. - Sharon was promoted for his actions. - Defense Minister Pinhas Lavon described the raid "the most successful military operation" even though it was a "political failure." - [[Unit 101]] was merged with the Paratroopers Brigade and its tactics were seen as a model going forward for the IDF. ![[image-54.png|386x255]] *After the raid* ## Recommended Reading Rise and Kill First - Ronen Bergman (chapter 3) #### References - Bergman, Ronen. _Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassinations_. Translated by Ronnie Hope. New York: Random House, 2018. pp. 42-46. - **“Unit 101.”** _Wikipedia_. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_101](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_101). - **“Qibya massacre,”** _Wikipedia_, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qibya_massacre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qibya_massacre).