| Jaffa Road bus bombings | |
|---|---|
Aftermath of the February 25 attack.
| |
  | |
| Location | Jerusalem |
| Coordinates | 31°47′20″N 35°12′20″E / 31.78889°N 35.20556°E / 31.78889; 35.20556 |
| Date | February 25, 1996; 28 years ago (1996-02-25) |
Attack type | Suicide bomber |
| Deaths | 17 Israeli civilians 9 Israeli soldiers (+1 attacker) |
| Injured | 48 mostly civilians |
| Perpetrators | Palestinian assailant, trained, armed, and supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran.[1] Hamas claimed responsibility. |
Terrorist attacks were carried out on two No. 18 buses on Jaffa RoadinJerusalem, in 1996. Hamas suicide bombers killed 45 people in the attacks,[2] which were masterminded by Mohammed Deif, using explosives prepared by Adnan Awul.[3] These two bombings, within a few days of each other, occurred during a Hamas offensive launched after the killing of Yahya Ayyash, which also included the French Hill neighborhood attack, a suicide bombing in Ashkelon, and a terrorist attack near Dizengoff CenterinTel Aviv.
On the morning of February 25, 1996, a suicide bomber blew himself up on a No.18 bus traveling down Jaffa Road near the Jerusalem Central Bus Station. 17 civilians and 9 Israeli soldiers were killed and 48, mostly civilians, injured.
In 2014 journalist Mike Kelly published The Bus on Jaffa Road; A Story of Middle East Terrorism and the Search for Justice. Kirkus Reviews praised it as, "a spiral of horror and reckoning".[4]
According to Kelly, Yassir Arafat was aware of these planned bombings.[5]
Hamas operative Hassan Salameh was captured by Israel in Hebron in May, 1996.[6] Israel, which has only once imposed a death penalty, sentenced Salameh to 46 consecutive life sentences for directing 3 mass-casualty attacks.[7] Salameh, a devout Muslim, has continued to maintain that he acted in a righteous manner in bombing civilian buses, saying, "I believe what I did is a legitimate right my religion and all of the world gave me..." in 1997,[8] and in an interview almost 2 decades later.[5] According to Mike Kelly, Salameh was trained in Iran.[5]
On the morning of March 3, 1996, a suicide bomber boarded another No. 18 bus, detonating an explosive belt that killed 16 civilians and three Israeli soldiers and wounded 7.
| Jaffa Road bus bombing (March 3, 1996) | |
|---|---|
The attack aftermath
| |
| Location | Jerusalem |
| Date | March 3, 1996; 28 years ago (1996-03-03) |
Attack type | Suicide bomber |
| Deaths | 16 Israeli civilians 3 Israeli soldiers (+1 attacker) |
| Injured | 7 civilians |
| Perpetrator | Hamas claimed responsibility |
| Assailant | Mohammed Abdo[9] |
| Participant | 1 |
The families of United States victims Matthew Eisenfeld and Sarah Duker sued Iran for backing the attack, and won a US$327 million judgment in 2000.[10] The Clinton Administration then blocked the families' efforts to seize certain Iranian assets in the United States.[10] As of 2006 collection efforts continue through legal processes.[10] The families, together with the family of another United States citizen killed in the same attack, now seek as much as US$900 million from Iran.[10] In 2006 an Italian court domesticated the US court ruling, and temporarily froze Iranian assets.[10] The plaintiffs have stated that they intend to pursue Iran through other European Union courts.[10]
