Tel Aviv - The Israeli President Shimon Peres apologized for a massacre of Palestinians that took place at the village of Kfar Qassem more than 50 years ago, Israeli media reported Saturday. Peres on Friday visited the village where on October 29, 1956, security personnel killed 48 Israeli Arab civilians on the first day of the 1956 Israeli war against Egypt.
"A terrible event happened here in the past, and we are very sorry for it," Peres said. "We are all children of the same god, who has not given us permission to kill, oppress and humiliate others."
According to Israel, border police shot at a group of Arab workers who had broken a curfew. The victims, who included women and children, were returning from work and apparently had not been notified of the curfew.
Individual members of previous Israeli governments have also apologised for the Kfar Qassem incident.
Human rights activists in the past had considered taking the Israeli government to court for war crimes over the massacre.
