2002 French hill suicide bombing | |
---|---|
Part of the Second Intifada militancy campaign | |
Location | French Hill settlement, East Jerusalem |
Date | 19 June 2002 c. 7:05 am [1] |
Attack type | Suicide bombing |
Deaths | 7 [2] (+1 suicide bomber) |
Injured | ≈ 50 [3] |
Perpetrator | Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility [4] |
A suicide bombing occurred on 19 June 2002, in a crowded bus stop and hitchhiking post at the French Hill settlement in northern East Jerusalem. The site of the attack was chosen in order to cause a maximum number of casualties. Seven people were killed in the attack, and 35 were injured. [4] [5] [6]
The Palestinian militant group Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack. [4]
The attack took place only a day after the deadliest bombing attack in Jerusalem in six years occurred, in which a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 19 people on a crowded bus in southern Jerusalem. According to The Daily Telegraph , both of the attacks were timed to disrupt an expected announcement by U.S. President George W. Bush regarding a future Palestinian state, and Bush did in fact delay his speech. [4] [7] [8]
On Wednesday, shortly after 7:05 am, [1] a Palestinian suicide bomber got out of a red Audi vehicle [9] next to a bus station in Jerusalem's French Hill settlement.
Because the bus stop had been targeted by assailants in the past, the bus stop was heavily guarded. [10] Two Border Police patrolmen, who were securing the site, [9] chased the suspect to try to stop him, but the suicide bomber managed to run past them [11] [12] [13] straight into the middle of a crowd of people waiting for the bus in one of the busiest bus stops in Israel. [2] The suicide bomber detonated the explosive device that he was holding in a bag, [14] killing seven people. About 50 additional people were injured from the force of the blast and by shrapnel that was packed around the explosive device. Eight of the wounded sustained severe injuries.
The force of the blast completely destroyed the bus station, which was made of concrete, and many body parts were scattered over a large area throughout the street near the bus station. [9] [10] Later, a bulldozer dismantled what was left of the concrete bus station. [10]
The two Border Police patrolmen at the scene were wounded in the attack, one of them seriously. [15]
Shortly after the attack, the Palestinian militant group Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, which publicly identifies itself as the military wing of Fatah (led at the time by Yasser Arafat), claimed responsibility for the attack during a broadcast on Lebanese television. [4]
According to the Daily Telegraph, both attacks carried out in Jerusalem on the 18 and 19 June 2002 were timed to disrupt an expected announcement by U.S. President George W. Bush regarding a future Palestinian state, provided that the Palestinian Authority first met a series of strict conditions. [16] White House spokesman Ari Fleischer stated that Bush would delay the plan as such, because "It's obvious that the immediate aftermath is not the right time." [4] [7]
In response to the attack, three hours after the attack took place, Israeli Air Force helicopters fired rockets at metal workshops in the Gaza Strip which were used to manufacture weapons. [4] [12] According to Reuters, at least five rockets were shot in Gaza City and Khan Yunis. [9]
Israel:
Note: This compilation includes only those attacks that resulted in casualties. Attacks which did not kill or wound are not included.
The Passover massacre was a suicide bombing carried out by Hamas at the Park Hotel in Netanya, Israel on 27 March 2002, during a Passover seder. 30 civilians were killed in the attack and 140 were injured. It was the deadliest attack against Israeli civilians during the Second Intifada, and one of the most severe suicide attacks Israel has ever experienced.
A Palestinian suicide bombing of a crowded public bus in the Shmuel HaNavi quarter in Jerusalem took place on August 19, 2003. Twenty-four people were killed and over 130 wounded. Many of the victims were children, some of them infants. The Islamist militant group Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.
A Palestinian suicide bombing on an Egged bus was carried out by Hamas in Jerusalem on June 18, 2002, killing 20 people and wounding over 74. 17 of the dead were residents of Gilo.
Numerous attacks were carried out by Palestinians near the French Hill neighbourhood in northern East Jerusalem. The neighbourhood is considered an illegal Israeli settlement by numerous sources but this is disputed by Israel than annexed the area as part of the Jerusalem Law and by others.
The following is a partial list of civilian casualties in the Second Intifada.
Events in the year 2003 in Israel.
Events in the year 2002 in Israel.
Events in the year 2001 in Israel.
The Camp 80 junction bus 823 attack was a suicide bombing which occurred on November 29, 2001, on an Egged bus in northern Israel. The bus, en route from Nazareth to Tel Aviv, was traveling through the town of Pardes Hanna-Karkur. Three passengers were killed in the attack and nine were injured.
Events in the year 2004 in the Palestinian territories.
Events in the year 2001 in the Palestinian territories.
Events in the year 2003 in the Palestinian territories.
A suicide bombing occurred on 12 April 2002 at a bus stop located at the entrance to the Mahane Yehuda Market, Jerusalem's main fruit and vegetable market. The site of the attack was chosen in order to cause maximum number of casualties. 6 civilians were killed in the attack and 104 were injured. The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Allenby Street bus bombing was a Palestinian suicide bombing that occurred on September 19, 2002 on a Dan bus in the center of Tel Aviv's business district. Six civilians were killed in the attack and approximately 70 were injured. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.
Two Palestinian suicide attacks on an Egged bus occurred in the French Hill settlement of northern East Jerusalem on 18 May 2003. Seven passengers were killed in the attack, and 20 injured. A few minutes after the first attack, a second suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance to the village of Dahiya el-Barid, near Jerusalem. Only the bomber was killed in what appeared to be a premature detonation.
A Palestinian suicide bombing took place on June 11, 2003, on Egged bus line 14a at Davidka Square in the center of Jerusalem. 17 people were killed in the attack and over 100 people were injured.
A suicide bombing was carried out on 29 March 2002 by 18-year-old Ayat al-Akhras, who blew herself up at the entrance of the main supermarket in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Kiryat HaYovel, killing three people including a 17 year old girl and injuring 28, two seriously. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Liberty Bell Park bus bombing was a suicide bombing which occurred on February 22, 2004 in Egged bus No. 14A in Jerusalem. Eight passengers were killed in the attack and over 60 people were injured, many of them were children on their way to school. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack.
2002