On this date, which corresponds with the 26th anniversary of Israel independence, Palestinian terrorists broke into the high school in Maalot, a community in northern Israel. The terrorists immediately killed a security guard and some of the children, the remaining children and teachers were held as hostages.

In the morning the terrorists were identified as members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine who had infiltrated into Israel from Lebanon. They presented their demands: release Arab terrorists from Israeli prisons, or they would kill the children. The deadline was set at 6:00pm the same day.

The Knesset, the Israeli parliament, met in an emergency session, and by 3:00pm a decision was reached to negotiate, but the Palestinian terrorists refused a request for more time.

At 5:45pm, a unit of the elite Golani Brigade stormed the building. All of the Palestinian terrorists were killed in the assault, but not before they used firearms and explosives to kill 21 children that afternoon. All told, 26 people were killed and 66 wounded (not including the terrorists), including several people murdered by the terrorists on their way to the school the night before.

More info at Maalot High School Massacre – Provided by the Free Online Encyclopedia