2011 Israeli school bus anti-tank missile attack
| Hamas school bus attack | |
|---|---|
 |
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  The attack site
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| Coordinates | 31°28′12″N 34°31′40″E / 31.47000°N 34.52778°E |
| Date | 7 April 2011 |
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Attack type
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Laser guided missile attack |
| Weapons | Kornet anti-tank missile |
| Deaths | 1 child |
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Non-fatal injuries
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1 |
| Perpetrators | Al-Qassam Brigades |
The Shaar HaNegev school bus attack was a missile attack on 7 April 2011, in which Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip fired a Kornet laser-guided anti-tank missile over the border at an Israeli school bus, killing a schoolboy.
Hamas claimed the bus was traveling on a road used by Israeli military vehicles and it did not know that schoolchildren were on board. Israel said the yellow color of the bus made it easily identifiable and accused Hamas of "crossing a line."
The missile hit the bus after all but one of the children had been dropped off. The only remaining passenger, a 16-year-old boy, Daniel Viflic, was critically injured with shrapnel wounds to the head and died from his injuries on 17 April. The driver was lightly injured. Another mortar barrage was timed to coincide with the arrival of the paramedics, which delayed the evacuation.
The attack was condemned by the international community.
Hamas claimed that the attack was carried out in retaliation for the killing of three of its leaders on 2–3 April In the 48 hours prior to the attack, Palestinians had also fired a separate anti-tank missile at an Israeli target. Anti-tank missiles, unlike rockets and mortars, are extremely accurate, and their use requires more skill.
On 7 April 2011 a bright yellow school bus belonging to the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council was dropping off students near their homes when a Hamas missile hit the rear of the bus. The bus was 50 metres past its stop at Kibbutz Sa'ad. All the children had been dropped off apart from Daniel Viflic, a 16-year-old yeshiva student from Beit Shemesh. He was critically injured by shrapnel which penetrated his brain. Viflic also suffered shrapnel wounds to head, neck and body, and massive blood loss. He temporarily stopped breathing, which prevented oxygen from reaching his brain. Viflic had been on the bus with driver Zion Yemini, a family friend. He had hitched a ride to visit his grandmother who lives in the western Negev. The driver was lightly injured in the leg, and was able to pull the bus over to the side of the road, where he carried Viflic out of the vehicle.
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Wikipedia