Qalqilya Massacre
Qalqilya Massacre:
Although the respective UN resolution on the partition of Palestine was already passed, the inhabitants of Qalqilya/Tulkarm Province, precociously felt the Zionist danger. They therefore, took the initiative of building possible defences in their village. They raised funds to buy weapons and ammunitions to defend their land and protect themselves.
In spite of the signed truce, clashes between the Qilqilya citizens and the Zionist enemy continued without interruption. The Israeli Zionist forces never disguised their intention of destroying Qalqilya. That intention was explicitly pronounced by Moshe Dayan in June 1953, when he said that he would level Qalqilya to the ground.
Thus at 21:00 hours of October 10, 1956, an Israeli military detachment, supported by a tank squad, two artillery groups, and about 10 war planes, penetrated the borders, cut off wire communications and laid road mines.
An hour later, the village was assaulted from three directions. Home defences repeatedly forced the aggressors to retreat.
Intuitively, the village inhabitants recognized that their police station was the main target of the aggression. Hence, they fortified it with more militants and other means of power. Soon the Israeli military bombardment intensified with the participation of war planes.
In this unequal battle, the Zionists occupied the police station of the village, and penetrated further into Qalqilya.
The neighboring villages rushed briskly to help, as did a Jordanian army unit that was stationed in the region, but collided with the ground mines. One of its armored cars and two of its transport trucks were blasted.
However, after a brave battle was fought by the local citizens of Qalqilya, the nearby villages and the Jordanian army unit. the aggressors withdrew leaving behind 70 people dead, and untold devastation.