Haifa bus 37 suicide bombing

The Haifa bus 37 suicide bombing was a suicide bombing carried out on 5 March 2003 on an Egged bus in Haifa, Israel. Seventeen passengers were killed in the attack and 53 were injured.[1] Many of the victims were students from Haifa University.[2]

Haifa bus 37 suicide bombing
Part of the Second Intifada militancy campaign

The attack site
LocationHaifa
Coordinates32°47′49.9″N 34°59′3.13″E
Date5 March 2003
Targetbus
Attack type
suicide attack
Deaths17 (+ 1 bomber)
Injured53
PerpetratorsHamas

The Palestinian Islamist militant organization Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. The suicide bomber was 20-year-old Mahmoud Umdan Salim Qawasmeh, a student at the Palestine Polytechnic University. An Israeli Arab resident of Haifa who helped plan the attack was also tried and sentenced to life imprisonment for his involvement.[3]

The attack

The attack occurred on 5 March 2003, when a suicide bomber from Hebron detonated a bomb hidden underneath his clothes on a bus carrying many children and teenagers on their way home from school.[4] The bus exploded as it was pulling out of station on Moriyah Street, a main traffic artery near the Carmeliya neighborhood, heading from the Bat Galim neighborhood to the University of Haifa. The explosion occurred while the bus was packed with commuters. The attack killed 17 people and wounded 53.[5] Police said the bomb, strapped to the bomber's body, was laden with metal shrapnel in order to maximize the number of injuries.[6]

Fatalities
  • Miriam Atar, 27, from Haifa
  • Anatoly Biryakov, 20, from Haifa
  • Smadar Firstatter, 17, from Haifa
  • Daniel Harush, 16, from Safed
  • Motti Hershko, 41, from Haifa
  • Tom Hershko, 16, from Haifa
  • Meital Katav, 20, from Haifa
  • Elizabeth (Liz) Katzman, 17, from Haifa
  • Tal Kehrmann, 17, from Haifa
  • Kmer Abu Khamed, 12, from Daliyat al Karmel
  • St.-Stg. Eliyahu Laham, 22, from Haifa
  • Abigail Litle, 14, from Haifa, United States citizen.
  • Yuval Mendelevitch, 13, from Haifa
  • Be'eri Ovad, 21, from Rosh Pina
  • Moran Shushan, 20, from Haifa
  • Mark Takash, 54, from Haifa
  • Asaf Tzur, 16, from Haifa

Aftermath

Spokesmen from Hamas and Islamic Jihad praised the attack. "We will not stop our resistance," said Abd al-Aziz Rantisi of Hamas. "We are not going to give up in the face of the daily killing of Palestinians."[5] In response, Israeli helicopters killed Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Makadmeh and three of his bodyguards.[7]

On 18 October 2011, Israel released three people convicted of planning the attack, Maedh Waal Taleb Abu Sharakh (19 life sentences), Majdi Muhammad Ahmed Amr (19 life sentences) and Fadi Muhammad Ibrahim al-Jaaba (18 life sentences), as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange.[8][9]

See also
  • List of Hamas suicide attacks

References
  1. Suicide bombing of Egged bus No. 37 in Haifa, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 21 January 2004.
  2. "Archives: Jerusalem Post".
  3. "מאסר עולם לערבי ישראלי שסייע לפיגוע בחיפה - וואלה! חדשות". Archived from the original on 3 May 2005. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  4. Mother tells of last call as families mourn bus bomb children, The Guardian, 7 March 2003.
  5. Israel attacks Gaza as bus bomb kills 15, The Guardian, 6 March 2003.
  6. Haifa suicide bombing
  7. Murphy, Jarrett (9 March 2003). "Hamas Vows To Avenge Leader's Death". CBS News.
  8. Dayan, Dani. "Prisoner list includes planners o... JPost – Diplomacy & Politics". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
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