Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing

The Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing was the suicide bombing of a crowded public bus (Egged bus 2) in the Shmuel HaNavi quarter in Jerusalem, on August 19, 2003. Twenty-four people were killed and over 130 wounded. Many of the victims were children, some of them infants.[1][2] The Islamist militant group Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing
Part of the Second Intifada militancy campaign

The
attack
site
LocationJerusalem
Coordinates31°47′40″N 35°13′15″E
DateAugust 19, 2003
Attack type
suicide bombing
Deaths23 civilians and 1 unborn child (+ 1 bomber)
Injured130+ civilians
PerpetratorsHamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

Attack

On August 19, 2003 (22 Av 5763), a Hamas suicide bomber sent out by the organization's Hebron cell disguised himself as a Haredi Jew and detonated himself on a No. 2 Egged bus traveling through Jerusalem's Shmuel HaNavi neighborhood. He blew himself up after entering the back door.[3] The double-length bus was crowded with Orthodox Jewish children returning from a visit to the Western Wall. In addition to the bomber, the huge explosion killed 7 children and 16 adults, among them a woman who was eight months' pregnant, and injured more than 130 people.[4] The bomb was spiked with ball-bearings designed to increase injuries on the crowded bus. Hamas said the bomber was a 29-year-old mosque preacher from the city of Hebron.

Because so many of the dead and injured were children,[5] the media dubbed it the "children's bus". According to an Associated Press report,

Strollers were scattered near the stricken bus, medics carried away children with blood-smeared faces and a baby girl died in a hospital before doctors could find her parents. At least five children were among the 18 dead in Tuesday's suicide bombing by a Palestinian militant who blew himself up on a Jerusalem bus. Forty children were among more than 100 people injured. The attack was the 100th Palestinian suicide bombing against Israelis since the latest round of fighting began in September 2000. The youth of the victims stands out in that grim list, and the government said the choice of target was particularly cold-blooded.[6]

Fatalities
  • Avraham Bar-Or, 12, of Jerusalem.[7]
  • Binyamin Bergman, 15, of Jerusalem.[8]
  • Yaakov Binder, 50, of Jerusalem.[9]
  • Feiga Dushinski, 50, of Jerusalem.[10]
  • Miriam Eisenstein, 20, of Bnei Brak.[11]
  • Lilach Kardi, 22 (eight months pregnant), of Jerusalem.[12]
  • Menachem Leibel, 24, of Jerusalem.[13]
  • Elisheva Meshulami, 16, of Bnei Brak.[14]
  • Tehilla Nathanson, 3, of Zikhron Ya'akov.[15]
  • Chava Nechama Rechnitzer, 19, of Bnei Brak.[16]
  • Mordechai Reinitz, 49, of Netanya.[17]
  • Issachar Reinitz, 9, of Netanya.[18]
  • Maria Antonia Reslas, 39, of the Philippines.[19]
  • Liba Schwartz, 54, of Jerusalem.[20]
  • Hanoch Segal, 65, of Bnei Brak.[21]
  • Goldie Taubenfeld, 43, of New Square, New York.[22]
  • Shmuel Taubenfeld, 3 months, of New Square, New York.[23]
  • Rabbi Eliezer Weisfish, 42, of Jerusalem.[24]
  • Shmuel Wilner, 50, of Jerusalem.[25]
  • Shmuel Zargari, 11 months, of Jerusalem.[26]
  • Fruma Rahel Weitz, 73, of Jerusalem – died of her wounds on August 23.[27]
  • Mordechai Laufer, 27, of Netanya – died of his wounds on September 5.[28]
  • Tova Lev, 37, of Bnei-Brak – died of her wounds on September 12.[29]

Perpetrators

Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.[30][31][32] According to Tariq Ali, however, the bombing was carried out by a "self-proclaimed 'Hamas' cell from Hebron, disowned and denounced by the official leadership."[33] The attack put an end to the so-called Hudna that had been announced in July 2003. United States president George W. Bush sent his condolences to the victims' families. The European Commission also denounced what it called the "devastating terrorist attack" and called on the Palestinian Authority to intervene to bring a halt to such acts:

The European Commission strongly condemns last night's devastating terrorist attack in Jerusalem and expresses its sincere condolences to the families of the victims and to the Israeli Government. This is an attack on all the forces working for peace. The European Commission calls on the Palestinian Authority to do everything in its powers to prevent such unacceptable and unjustified act of violence, and urges the PA and the Israeli Government to pursue their dialogue and common efforts towards peace as set out in the Road Map.[34]

Aftermath

Following the attack, Israeli forces arrested 17 Palestinians suspected of being Hamas activists, including several of the bomber's relatives,[35] while Hamas leader Ismail Abu Shanab and his two bodyguards were killed by an Israeli helicopter missile strike in Gaza.[36]

In 2004 a memorial plaque to the victims was erected in the Beit Yisrael neighborhood of Jerusalem. The name of the only non-Jewish victim, Maria Antonia Reslas, was engraved separately from the names of the other victims, with the title "Mrs" rather than the title "sainted" (kadosh) used for the Jews, resulting in some controversy.[37]

See also

References
  1. "Remember these children". Remember these children. April 4, 2013. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  2. Sciences, Russian Academy of; Sciences, National Academy of; Affairs, Policy and Global; Cooperation, Development, Security, and; Eurasia, Office for Central Europe and; States, Committee on Counterterrorism Challenges for Russia and the United (March 26, 2009). Countering Terrorism: Biological Agents, Transportation Networks, and Energy Systems: Summary of a U.S.-Russian Workshop. National Academies Press. ISBN 9780309127073.
  3. Cole, Leonard A. (2007). Terror: How Israel Has Coped and What America Can Learn. Indiana University Press. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  4. "Suicide bombing of No 2 Egged bus in Jerusalem-19-Aug-2003". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  5. Ettinger, Yair (August 21, 2003). "After praying for a seventh child Nava's baby died in her arms". Haaretz.com. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  6. Israel shocked at child toll of Jerusalem bus bombing CNN, 20 August 2003
  7. "Avraham Bar-Or". Mfa.gov.il. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  8. http://www.zanhanim.org.il/Info/n_show.aspx?id=22962
  9. חדשות נענע (August 20, 2003). "נענע10 – הותר לפרסום שמו של הרוג נוסף מהפיגוע אמש: יעקב בינדר – חדשות". News.nana10.co.il. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  10. "Feiga Dushinski". Mfa.gov.il. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  11. "Miriam Eisenstein". Mfa.gov.il. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  12. "Lilach Kardi". Mfa.gov.il. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  13. "Menachem Leibel". Mfa.gov.il. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  14. "Elisheva Meshulami". Mfa.gov.il. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  15. "Tehilla Nathanson". Mfa.gov.il. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  16. "Chava Rechnitzer". Mfa.gov.il. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  17. "Mordechai Reinitz". Mfa.gov.il. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  18. "Issachar Reinitz". Mfa.gov.il. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  19. "Maria Reslas". Mfa.gov.il. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  20. "Liba Schwartz". Mfa.gov.il. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  21. "Hanoch Segal". Mfa.gov.il. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  22. "Goldie Taubenfeld". Mfa.gov.il. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  23. "Shmuel Taubenfeld". Mfa.gov.il. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  24. "Eliezer Weisfish". Mfa.gov.il. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  25. "Shmuel Wilner". Mfa.gov.il. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  26. "Shmuel Zargari". Mfa.gov.il. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  27. "Fruma Rahel Weitz". Mfa.gov.il. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  28. "Rabbi Mordechai Laufer". Mfa.gov.il. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  29. "Tova Lev". Mfa.gov.il. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  30. "The attack tonight was claimed by members of both Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The Israeli police said the bomber was from Hamas." James Bennet, BOMBING KILLS 18 AND HURTS SCORES ON JERUSALEM BUS, The New York Times, August 20, 2003.
  31. "The militant Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad both said they carried out the attack." Bus bomb carnage in Jerusalem, BBC News, August 20, 2003.
  32. "...a bus bomb in Jerusalem earlier this week – for which both groups claimed responsibility – left 20 people dead." Roger Hardy, Analysis: End of roadmap?, BBC News, August 21, 2003.
  33. Ali, Tariq (December 30, 2008). "From the ashes of Gaza". Guardian.
  34. "The European Commission strongly condemns Jerusalem terrorist attack". European Union. Europa-eu-un.org. August 20, 2003.
  35. "Israel blast suspends talks". BBC. August 20, 2003.
  36. "Ismail Abu Shanab". Web Gaza.
  37. A degrading memorial Haaretz, August 16, 2004
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