Kiryat HaYovel supermarket bombing

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Kiryat HaYovel supermarket bombing
Part of the Second Intifada militancy campaign
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The attack site, 2009
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The attack site
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Kiryat HaYovel supermarket bombing (Jerusalem)
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Kiryat HaYovel supermarket bombing (Israel)
LocationShufersal supermarket at the Kiryat HaYovel neighbourhood in Jerusalem
Coordinates 31°45′42″N35°10′30″E / 31.76167°N 35.17500°E / 31.76167; 35.17500
Date29 March 2002;22 years ago (2002-03-29)
Attack type
 Suicide bombing
Weapon Suicide vest
Deaths2 Israeli civilians (+1 bomber)
Injured28 civilians
Perpetrators Ayat al-Akhras (Hamas claimed responsibility)

A suicide bombing was carried out on 29 March 2002 by 17-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. [1] Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

Contents

The attack

Haim Smadar Memorial Plaque at Kiryat HaYovel supermarket Haim Smadar Memorial Kiryat Hayovel supermarket.jpg
Haim Smadar Memorial Plaque at Kiryat HaYovel supermarket

On 29 March 2002, during the afternoon, Ayat al-Akhras, an 17-year-old Palestinian woman, approached the Shufersal supermarket of Kiryat Yovel. The supermarket at the time was full of customers shopping for the weekend.

Haim Smadar, the 55-year-old security guard who guarded the entrance to the supermarket and spoke Arabic, became suspicious after two Arab women who usually sold vegetables outside the shop entrance had been warned by Akhras to leave. Akhras detonated the explosives at the entrance to the store while struggling with Smadar, killing him and Rachel Levy, a 17-year-old Israeli girl. In addition, about 30 people were injured in the attack. Smadar managed to forcefully keep her away from the crowd, thus preventing a larger loss of life had the attack taken place inside the store. [2]

After the attack, it was discovered that the suicide bomber was also carrying an unexploded mortar bomb. [3]

When news of the bombing reached Dheisheh, some of the residents celebrated, handing out candies and firing guns in the air. [4]

The perpetrator

Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack and identified the suicide bomber as 18-year-old Ayat al-Akhras from the Deheishe Refugee Camp near Bethlehem. [5]

Official reactions

US president George W. Bush condemned the attack, stating: "When an 18-year-old Palestinian girl is induced to blow herself up, and in the process kills a 17-year-old Israeli girl, the future itself is dying, the future of the Palestinian people and the future of the Israeli people." He also called on Yasser Arafat to convey a clear message to terrorists that blowing themselves up did not help the cause of the Palestinians. [6]

Aftermath

After the bombing, Ayat became an icon in Bethlehem and was hailed as a martyr and role model at Al Quds University. [7] She was praised by American university professor Julio Pino. [8]

Then Saudi Ambassador to the UK, Dr Ghazi Abdul Rahman Al Gosaibi, a leading politician in Saudi Arabia, wrote a poem in praise of al-Akhras in 2002. [9] [10]

Related Research Articles

Note: This compilation includes only those attacks that resulted in casualties. Attacks which did not kill or wound are not included.

This page is a partial listing of incidents of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Passover massacre</span> 2002 Hamas suicide bombing in Israel

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 occurred on November 21, 2002 in a public bus in the neighborhood of Kiryat Menachem in Jerusalem. 11 people were murdered in the attack and over 50 were injured.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayat al-Akhras</span> Palestinian suicide bomber (1985–2002)

Ayat al-Akhras was the third and youngest Palestinian female suicide bomber who, at age 17, killed herself and two Israeli civilians on March 29, 2002, by detonating explosives belted to her body. The killings gained widespread international attention due to Ayat's age and gender and the fact that one of the victims was also a teenage girl.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patt Junction bus bombing</span> 2002 suicide bombing in Jerusalem

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wafa Idris</span> Palestinian suicide bomber

Wafa Idris, a Palestinian Red Crescent volunteer, was the first female suicide bomber in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. She killed herself while committing the Jaffa Street bombing. At the time of her suicide, Idris was a 28-year-old, divorcee, and lived in the Am'ari Refugee Camp in Ramallah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dolphinarium discotheque massacre</span> 2001 nightclub bombing in Tel Aviv, Israel

On 1 June 2001, a Hamas-affiliated terrorist blew himself up outside the Dolphinarium discotheque on the beachfront in Tel Aviv, Israel, killing 21 Israelis, 16 of whom were teenagers. The majority of the victims were Israeli teenage girls whose families had recently immigrated from the former Soviet Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiryat HaYovel</span> Neighborhood in Jerusalem on Mount Herzl

Kiryat HaYovel is a neighborhood in southwestern Jerusalem on Mount Herzl. It was built in the early 1950s to house Jewish refugees who fled the Arab world. Today, Kiryat HaYovel has a population of 25,000 residents.

<i>To Die in Jerusalem</i> Israeli film

To Die in Jerusalem is a 2007 HBO documentary film about the effects of a March 29, 2002, Jerusalem suicide bombing on the families of the 17-year-old Israeli victim Rachel Levy and the 18-year-old Palestinian female suicide bomber, Ayat al-Akhras. Al-Akhras blew herself up at the entrance of Kiryat HaYovel's main supermarket, killing two people and injuring 28.

Events in the year 2002 in Israel.

Events in the year 2001 in Israel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2002 Herzliya bombing</span> Suicide bombing in Herzliya, Israel

The 2002 Herzliya bombing took place on June 11, 2002, when a Palestinian suicide bomber set off a bomb at the Jamil restaurant in the Israeli beach suburb of Herzliya. The event resulted in the death of one teenager, Hadar Hershkowitz, and the injury of 15 people. The attack led Israel to lodge a formal complaint with the UN security council, citing it as evidence for a "campaign of Palestinian terrorism" against Israeli civilians.

Events in the year 2001 in the Palestinian territories.

Events in the year 2003 in the Palestinian territories.

On 25 January 2002, a Palestinian suicide bomber injured at least 24 civilians in Tel Aviv, Israel. Afterwards, the Palestinian militant organization Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Netanya Market bombing</span> 2002 Hamas suicide bombing in Israel

The Netanya Market bombing was a suicide bombing which occurred on 19 May 2002 at the entrance to the main fruit and vegetable open-air market in Netanya, Israel. The site of the attack was chosen in order to cause maximum number of casualties. Three people were killed in the attack, and 56–59 were injured.

<i>Before We Say Goodbye</i> 2004 novel by Gabriella Ambrosio

Before We Say Goodbye, first published as Prima di Lasciarsi, is a 2004 novel by Gabriella Ambrosio. The work is based on the 2002 Kiryat HaYovel supermarket bombing and narrates the final hours in the lives of the suicide bomber and her victims. It was first published in Italy in 2004 through Nutrimenti, and was later published in English on 2 August 2010 through Walker Books. The novel has been published in multiple languages, including Arabic and Hebrew, and has been endorsed in some countries by Amnesty International.

References

  1. ↑ "Israel Under Attack-Jerusalem-Kiryat Yovel". Israeli Prime Minister's Office. 29 March 2002. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
  2. ↑ "Archives: Jerusalem Post". ProQuest   319360920. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  3. ↑ "ynet שני הרוגים ו-27 פצועים בפיגוע בקריית יובל - חדשות". ynet. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  4. ↑ "18-year-old bride-to-be kills two in suicide attack" . Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  5. ↑ Mideast Turmoil: Terrorism; Suicide bomber, 18, kills 2 Israelis and herself, New York Times
  6. ↑ ABC News. "Bush Chastises Israelis, Palestinians". ABC News. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  7. ↑ Rebecca Leung (May 28, 2003). "The Bomber Next Door". 60 Minutes. CBS News. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
  8. ↑ Stoil, Rebecca Anna (30 October 2011). "Kent State president lambasts Israel bashing professor". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  9. ↑ "BBC News - UK - Diplomat censured over bomb poem". 18 April 2002. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  10. ↑ Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor (18 April 2002). "Protest at envoy's martyr poem". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 16 December 2014.{{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
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