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The Scorpion Pass Massacre was a terrorist attack on an Israeli civilian pass, carried out the night of 16-17 march, 1954. 11 passengers were shot dead by the attackers who ambushed and boarded the bus. Three passengers survived, left for dead by the gunmen.

Background

Scorpions Pass (Hebrew:Ma'ale 'Akrabim) is a narrow, winding grade on the old road between Eilat and Beer Sheva, just south of Makhtesh Katan, and roughly 60 mils south of Beer Sheva. The pass was on the primary route between Eilat and central Israel in 1954.

The attack

On the night of Match 16, an Egged bus carrying 14 passengers made its way from Eilat to Tel-Aviv.. As it was climbing up the steep grade, it was ambushed by gunmen who shot and killed the driver as well as passengers who tired to escape, then proceeded to board the bus and shoot the remaining passengers.

Aftermath

The next day, Israeli trackers assisted by police dogs and accompanied by UN observers followed the attackers' tracks to a point 6 miles west of the Jordanian border, where the tracks were lost. . In subsequent days, a joint Israeli-Jordanian posse managed to follow the tracks as far as 2 miles from the border.. Relying on informants, Israeli intelligence sources named 3 suspects from the Jordanian village of Safi as the perpetrators.

Despite public outcry and call for military retaliation against Jordan, Israel's prime minister Moshe Sharett called for restraint and diplomatic measures. Israel requested that the Israeli-Jordanian Mixed Armistice Commission (IJMAC) denounce Jordan for the crime. Jordan's representative to the IJMAC blamed the atrocity on Israel, and IJMAC Chairman, Commander Hutchinson abstained, resulting in no decision. As a result, Israel left the IJMAC.

References

1. Israel's Border Wars, 1949-1956, p. 309, Benny Morris, Oxford University Press, 1997
2. ^ Massacre at Scorpion's Pass