"[5] A group called the "Black Hand", composed of predominantly Bedouins from 'Azazme and Tarrabin tribes living within the al-Auja Demilitarised zone, were carrying out 'revenge raids' principally against suspected informers but also against Israeli targets.

[8] On the night of 16 March, a bus operated by the Egged Israel Transport Cooperative Society on an unscheduled journey carrying 14 passengers made its way from Eilat to Tel Aviv.

He did not regain consciousness, and spent 32 years in a state of paralysis and partial recognition until he died on 4 September 1986 at the age of 42, becoming the 12th fatality of the massacre.

[12][15][16] Relying on informants, Israeli intelligence sources named 3 suspects from the Jordanian village of Ghor es-Safi as the perpetrators, and Lt.

[18] Despite public outcry and call for military retaliation against Jordan, Israel's prime minister Moshe Sharett called for restraint and diplomatic measures, as less than six months before the events, Unit 101 had attacked the village of Qibya as part of Israel's retaliation policy, which resulted in the deaths of 69 people and worldwide condemnation.

But Sharett favoured restraint, which helped to repair Israel's image in the West, opposed a reprisal while the memory of Qibya was still fresh.

Jordan's representative to the HJK/IMAC pointed out the possibility of the atrocity being carried out by Israeli Bedouin, and HJK/IMAC Chairman, Commander Hutchison abstained as there was no conclusive proof, resulting in no decision.

[24] This theory gained credibility when, in 1956, an ID from the Ma'ale Akrabim incident was found in Gaza by Israeli troops during the Suez Crisis.

[26][20][27] In 1968, Israeli troops of the Sayeret Shaked special forces unit killed Said Abu Bandak, who was identified as the leader of the group that had carried out the attack, in a clash with a militant cell in the Sinai.

[28] The Israeli Foreign Ministry cited the Ma'ale Akrabim incident, among many others, as evidence that "major Arab terrorist attacks" preceded the 1967 Six-Day War, in which Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip, to challenge what they describe as common claims by Palestinian and Arab spokesmen "that the recent Palestinian terrorism is the result of the Israeli 'occupation'".