Patt Junction bus bombing
c.7:50 am (UTC+2)
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A suicide bombing on an Egged bus was carried out by Hamas in Jerusalem on June 18, 2002, killing 20 people (including the bomber) and wounding over 74. 17 of the dead were residents of Gilo.[1]
The attack
On the morning of June 18, 2002, at 7:50 am, a Palestinian suicide bomber from Bethlehem got onto the Egged line 32A bus, which came from the Gilo neighborhood and stopped at Beit Safafa, an Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem.[2] The bomber boarded the bus and exploded himself in the front. His explosive belt included metal balls for shrapnel in order to maximize casualties.[3]
The perpetrators
Palestinian Islamist group Hamas claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack. The suicide bomber was identified as Muhammad al-Ghoul, a 22-year-old student at An-Najah National University in Nablus. He strapped explosives packed with nails to his body and boarded the bus during the morning rush hour as schoolchildren and commuters travelled to downtown Jerusalem from Gilo. The explosion lifted the bus off the ground, tore off its roof and sent bodies flying through the windows.[4][5] Two residents of the East Jerusalem suburb of Jabel Mukaber were tried and convicted for transporting the suicide bomber. During a commando raid in Nablus on June 30, Israeli soldiers killed senior Hamas bomb-maker Muhaned Taher, who according to Israel was behind this and other attacks.[6]
Aftermath
Charred bus exhibit
The charred remains of the bus were shipped to America and displayed at the biannual Jewish Expo fair in New York at the initiative of Zaka, an Israeli rescue and body parts recovery organization whose volunteers scrape up fragments of blood and flesh from bomb scenes for burial in keeping with Jewish law. Zaka said its aim was to increase awareness of its work and show the effects of suicide bombings.[7]
See also
References
- ^ Fisher, Ian (20 June 2002). "MIDEAST TURMOIL: THE MOOD; In Jerusalem, Despair and Determination". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- ^ New York times New architecture in Beit Safafa
- ^ Patt Junction terror attack
- ^ Patt Junction terror attack
- ^ "Mideast Dispatch Archive: Bombed Israeli bus to be exhibited in New York, and other stories". Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- ^ Peter Beaumont, 'Hamas threat over killing of key bomber,' The Guardian 2 July 2002
- ^ "Mideast Dispatch Archive: Bombed Israeli bus to be exhibited in New York, and other stories". Retrieved 14 December 2014.
External links
- Suicide Bomber Hits Jerusalem Bus, Killing At Least 18 - published on The New York Times on June 19, 2002
- Suicide bombing at Patt junction in Jerusalem - 18-Jun-2002 - published at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Diameter of the Bomb, Documentary about the bombing - published on hulu.com
- Bus Turned to Carnage in Instant - published on Eugene Register-Guard on June 19, 2002
- v
- t
- e
- Murder of Ofir Rahum (January 17)
- Azor attack (February 14)
- Netanya bombing (March 4)
- Murder of Shalhevet Pass (March 26)
- Murders of Koby Mandell and Yosef Ishran (May 8)
- 1st HaSharon Mall bombing (May 18)
- Dolphinarium discotheque massacre (June 1)
- Killing of Yehuda Shoham (June 5)
- Binyamina train station bombing (July 16)
- Sbarro restaurant bombing (August 9)
- Nahariya train station bombing (September 9)
- Assassination of Rehavam Ze'evi (October 17)
- Camp 80 junction bus attack (November 29)
- Ben Yehuda Street Bombings (December 1)
- Haifa bus bombing (December 2)
- Immanuel bus attack (December 12)
- Hadera attack (January 18)
- Tel Aviv outdoor mall bombing (January 25)
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- Karnei Shomron Mall bombing (February 16)
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- Café Moment bombing (March 9)
- Matzuva attack (March 12)
- Egged bus 823 bombing (March 20)
- King George Street bombing (March 21)
- Passover massacre (March 27) ‡
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- Netanya Market bombing (May 19)
- Pi Glilot bombing attempt (May 23)
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- Herzliya bombing (June 11)
- Patt Junction bus bombing (June 18)
- French Hill bombing (June 19)
- Itamar attack (June 20)
- Los Angeles Airport shooting (July 4)
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- Hebrew University bombing (July 31)
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- Tel Aviv central bus station massacre (January 5)
- Haifa bus bombing (March 5)
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- French Hill bombings (May 18)
- Afula mall bombing (May 19)
- Davidka Square bus bombing (June 11)
- Route 60 Hamas attack (June 20)
- Murder of Oleg Shaichat (July 28)
- Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing (August 19)
- Tzrifin bus stop attack (September 9)
- Café Hillel bombing (September 9)
- Maxim restaurant bombing (October 4)
- Geha Interchange bus stop bombing (December 25)
- 2004 Erez Crossing bombing (January 14)
- Gaza Street bus bombing (January 29)
- Liberty Bell Park bus bombing (February 22)
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- Murder of the Hatuel family (May 2)
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- Sinai bombings (October 7)
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- Stage Club bombing (February 25)
- 2nd HaSharon Mall bombing (July 12)
- Shfar'am attack (August 4)
- Kidnapping and murder of Sasson Nuriel (September 21)
- Hadera Market bombing (October 26)
- 3rd HaSharon Mall bombing (December 5)
- 1st Rosh Ha'ir restaurant bombing (January 19)
- Kedumim bombing (March 30)
- 2nd Rosh Ha'ir restaurant bombing (April 17)
- Murder of Eliyahu Asheri (June 25)
- Eilat bombing (January 29)
- Nahal Telem shooting (December 28)
- Dimona bombing (February 4)
- Jerusalem yeshiva attack (March 6)
- Jerusalem bulldozer attack (July 2)
- Jerusalem BMW attack (September 22)
- Bat Ayin axe attack (April 2)
- Killing of Rabbi Meir Hai (December 24)
‡ indicates the terrorist attack which caused the greatest amount of Israeli casualties during the 2000s
- Full list of Palestinian suicide attacks
- List of Israeli civilian casualties in the Second Intifada
- Full list of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel
- List of projectile attacks from Lebanon on Israel and the Golan Heights
- List of attacks from Lebanon
- Rocket attack on Eilat
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