Palestinian media reported that the IDF entered Jenin and demolished a memorial erected in honor of Khalid Nazzal, a Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine leader, who was responsible for the murder of 22 children & 3 adults, a.k.a. the Ma’alot massacre of 1974.

By Andrew Friedman/TPS

IDF soldiers have destroyed a memorial in Jenin to Khalid Nazzal, a leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) terrorist group who was responsible for a deadly terror attack in the northern town of Ma’alot in 1974.

A Jenin square monument named after Palestinian terrorist Khaled Nazzal, the mastermind of the 1974 Maalot massacre that left 22 children & 3 adults dead. – Screenshot: Palestinian Media Watch.

Nazzal was in killed in 1986; Palestinians believe he was murdered to avenge the Ma’alot attack but Israel has never commented on the killing.

Palestinian media reported that one Palestinian opened fire on the IDF while they were demolishing the monument, but no injuries were reported.

Last month, the Palestinian Authority created the memorial to Nazzal and renamed a public square in the city in his honor. Palestinian Media Watch, an Israeli NGO, reported that Jenin Deputy Mahmoud Abu Mwais told participants in the dedication ceremony that “our leadership and our people will continue on the path of the martyrs.”

The Ma’alot attack, one of the deadliest terrorist offensives in Israeli history, began when three Palestinians infiltrated the country from Lebanon and took 115 Israelis hostage, mostly high school students from Tzfat who were camping at the Netiv Meir Elementary School as part of a school field trip.

IDF remove the dead schoolchildren of the Ma’alot massacre. – YouTube screenshot

The hostage-takers demanded the release of 23 terrorists from Israeli prisons and threatened to kill the hostages if their demand was not met. After two days, soldiers from the IDF Golani Brigade stormed the building; 25 hostages, including 22 children, were killed, and 68 more were injured in the incident.

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http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4983730,00.html