Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing

Template:Short description Template:Pp-extended Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox terrorist attack A Palestinian suicide bombing of a crowded public bus (Egged bus No. 2) in the Shmuel HaNavi quarter in Jerusalem took place on August 19, 2003, during the Second Intifada.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Twenty-four people were killed and over 130 wounded. Many of the victims were children, some of them infants.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Hamas 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The double-length bus was crowded with Orthodox Jewish children returning from a visit to the Western Wall. In addition to the perpetrator, the huge explosion killed 7 children and 16 adults, among them a woman who was eight months' pregnant,Template:Citation needed and injured more than 130 people.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>Israel shocked at child toll of Jerusalem bus bombing CNN, 20 August 2003</ref>{{#if:|

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Perpetrators

Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.<ref>"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.</ref><ref>"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.</ref><ref>"...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.</ref> 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."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Aftermath

The attack put an end to the so-called Hudna that had been announced in July 2003.

Israeli forces arrested 17 Palestinians suspected of being Hamas activists, including several of the bomber's relatives,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> while Hamas leader Ismail Abu Shanab and his two bodyguards were killed by an Israeli helicopter missile strike in Gaza.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>A degrading memorial Template:Webarchive Haaretz, August 16, 2004</ref>

Reactions

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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See also

• Dizengoff Center suicide bombing
• Israeli casualties of war
• Kiryat Menachem bus bombing
• Patt junction bus bombing
• Palestinian political violence

External links

• Bus bombing in Jerusalem kills at least 18, injures more than 100 – published on NPR on August 19, 2003
• 18 killed, over 110 hurt in Jerusalem bus bomb – published on Haaretz on August 20, 2003
• Bus bomb carnage in Jerusalem – published on BBC News on August 20, 2003
• Bomber his bus carrying Israeli families 18 die, 100 wounded; children among victims Template:Webarchive – published on the Boston Globe on August 20, 2003
• Suicide bombing of No. 2 Egged bus in Jerusalem August 19, 2003 – published at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs