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Charred remains of the hijacked bus

Front end remains of the hijacked bus

The Coastal Road Massacre is the name by which a Palestinian terrorist attack on an Israeli coastal-road bus is known. The attack was masterminded by Abu Jihad and undertaken by PLO faction Fatah.

On the morning of March 11, 1978, Dalal Mughrabi and her Fedayeen unit of eleven members (including one other woman) landed by Zodiac boats on a beach near Maagan Michael north of Tel Aviv from Lebanon. They killed Gail Ruban (some sources spell Rubin), an American photographer who was taking nature pictures nearby, and then hijacked a loaded bus on the Coastal Highway.

Mughrabi and her unit opened fire at the military vehicles in the vicinity. An Israeli army unit, headed by Ehud Barak (who, in the 1990s, became Chief of the General Staff and later Israeli Prime Minister) pursued the bus until it was finally stopped near Herzliya. A long shooting battle between the Palestinians and the soldiers ensued. The Palestinians started shooting the passengers that attempted to escape. Eventually, the Fatah members blew up the bus which became a large deathtrap of fire. Thirty five civilians and six Palestinian guerillas were killed. Seventy-one civilians were wounded.^[1] Other sources claim 38 civilians were killed^{[2] [3]} There is lack of certainty over the fates of all the Palestinian attackers. Vast searches were undertaken in the Gush Dan area after additional attackers, but they weren't found and were probably killed.^{[citation needed]} Some claim that 2 Palestinians, designated terrorists, were arrested by Israel.^{[citation needed]}

Mughrabi's leadership role in the attack marked the emergence of women as full-fledged members of militant movements.

The Palestinian Authority named a Hebron girls' school in honor of Mughrabi. Her name has also been given to summer camps and both police and military courses.

The attack was the immediate trigger for the Israeli Operation Litani against PLO bases in Lebanon three days later.

1. ^ http://www.historyguy.com/israeli-palestinian_battles.html
2. ^ http://www.historycentral.com/Israel/1978CoastalMassacreByTerro.html
3. ^ Deeb, Marius (July 2003). Syria's Terrorist War on Lebanon and the Peace Process. Palgrave McMillian, 39. ISBN 1-4039-6248-0.