Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing

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The Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing was the suicide bombing of a crowded public bus in the Shmuel HaNavi quarter in Jerusalem, Israel, on August 19, 2003. Twenty-three people were killed and over 130 wounded. Many of the victims were children. The Islamist militant group Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

Attack

On August 19, 2003, a Hamas suicide bomber sent out by Hamas' Hebron cell disguised himself as a Haredi Jew and detonated himself on a No. 2 Egged bus traveling through Jerusalem's Shmuel HaNavi neighborhood. The double-length bus was crowded with Orthodox Jewish children returning from a visit to the Western Wall. The huge explosion killed 7 children and 16 adults, and injured more than 130 people. 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 were young children, 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.

Perpetrators

Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. 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." 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.

Aftermath

Following the attack, the Israel Defense Forces raided Hebron and killed or arrested several individuals who they said were involved in the planning and preparation of the attack.

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 (of blessed memory), was engraved separately from the names of the other victims, resulting in some controversy.

Victims

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

See also

• Kiryat Menachem bus bombing
• Patt junction bus bombing
• Dizengoff Center suicide bombing
• Civilian casualties in the Second Intifada

External links

• Suicide bombing of No. 2 Egged bus in Jerusalem August 19, 2003