2001 HaSharon Mall Suicide Bombing

On the morning of Friday, May 18, 2001, at approximately 11:30 am, a Palestinian suicide bomber approached the HaSharon Mall in the center of Netanya, Israel. The bomber wore a long blue jacket that concealed explosives attached to his body. As he attempted to enter the mall, a security guard working at the entrance intervened and prevented him from going inside. The bomber then detonated the explosives at the mall's entrance.

The explosion killed seven people, including the bomber himself, and injured more than 50 others. The attack occurred during a busy period at the popular shopping mall, a well-known commercial site in Netanya, a coastal city in central Israel.

The Palestinian Islamist militant organization Hamas stated that it was responsible for the attack.

In the aftermath, Israeli fighter jets carried out strikes against Palestinian security forces headquarters in the West Bank, resulting in 12 deaths. This marked the first time Israeli warplanes had been used against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza since the 1967 war, indicating a significant escalation in the use of airpower in the conflict at that time.

Separate bombings occurred at the same mall in July 2005 and December 2005.