The Bahr el-Baqar massacre was the result of an airstrike carried out by the Israeli Air Force on the morning of April 8, 1970. "Phantom" aircraft bombed the Bahr el-Baqar Elementary School in the village of Bahr el-Baqar in the center of Husseiniya in the Sharqia Governorate of Egypt. The attack resulted in the killing of 30 children, injuring 50 others, and completely destroying the school building.
The images of the bombed school and the parents rushing to search for their children who fell victim to the heinous operation remain etched in the minds of Egyptians.
The massacre of Bahr el-Baqar documented the Israeli occupation's crimes against innocent civilians in Egypt during the war. Bahr el-Baqar School became associated with a humanitarian disaster linked to the Israeli aggression. Five Israeli F-4 Phantom aircraft, carrying 1000-pound bombs bombed the school annihilating young students.
The Bahr el-Baqar massacre immortalized the names of many children in Egypt's history, including Hassan Mohamed Al-Sharqawi, Mohsen Salem Abdel Jalil Mohamed, Barakat Salama Hamad, Iman El Shabrawy Taher, Farouk Ibrahim El Desouki Helal, Mahmoud Mohamed Atia Abdullah, Gabr Abdel Majeed Fayed Nile, Awad Mohamed Metwally El-Gohary, Mohamed Ahmed Mahram, Najat Mohamed Hassan Khalil, Salah Mohamed Imam Qasim, Ahmed Abdel-Aal Al-Sayed, Mohamed Hassan Mohamed Imam, Zeinab Al-Sayed Ibrahim Awad, Mohamed Al-Sayed Ibrahim Awad, Mohamed Sabry Mohamed El-Bahi, Adel Gouda Riyadh Karawya, and Mamdouh Hosni El-Sadek Mohamed.
Details of the Bahr el-Baqar School Massacre:
On the morning of Wednesday, April 8, 1970, five Israeli F-4 Phantom II aircraft flew at low altitude. At twenty-nine minutes past nine in the morning, they directly bombed the school with five 1000-pound bombs and two missiles, resulting in the complete destruction of the building.
Medical emergency vehicles immediately rushed to transport the injured and the victims' bodies. The Egyptian Ministry of Interior issued a detailed statement on the incident, announcing that the death toll was 29 children at the time, with more than 50 injured including severe cases. One teacher and 11 school workers were also injured. The Egyptian government provided compensation to the families of the victims, amounting to 100 Egyptian pounds for each martyr and 10 pounds for each injured person. Some of the children's belongings, remaining files, and remnants of the bombs that bombed the school were collected and placed in a museum section out of a total of 17 sections within the walls of Bahr el-Baqar Elementary School, with the inscription "Martyrs Museum of Bahr el-Baqar" handwritten. These artifacts were then transferred to the National Museum of Sharqia in the village of Herya Rizna in Zagazig, which opened in 1973.
Results of the Bahr el-Baqar massacre:
- The killing of thirty children from the school's students.
- More than fifty children were injured, some with minor injuries and others with severe and critical injuries.
- One teacher and 11 school workers were injured.
- Complete destruction of the school building.
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