YnetNews.com reports: “In the summer of 1971, amid a surge in terror attacks in Gaza, Israel relocated more than 10,000 residents from the Jabaliya and Al-Shati refugee camps to northern Sinai. The move, carried out under the command of then-IDF Southern Command chief Ariel Sharon, was aimed at curbing terrorism.

The number of attacks in Gaza fell from 445 in 1971 to just a few dozen the following year and remained low until the outbreak of the First Intifada in 1987.

The relocation followed a series of deadly attacks, including the murder of Mark, 7, and Abigail, 5, Aroyo who were murdered when terrorists threw a grenade into their family’s car near Gaza City. Their parents were injured. In response, Sharon launched an extensive counterterrorism operation, with support from Meir Dagan, then commander of an IDF counterterror force.

In July 1971, IDF forces entered the northern Gaza refugee camps, relocating about 10,500 residents to El-Arish in northern Sinai, with a few sent to the West Bank. Reports suggested the actual numbers were higher. At the time, Sinai was under Israeli control…”