2002 French Hill suicide bombing

On the morning of 19 June 2002, a suicide bombing occurred at a crowded bus stop and hitchhiking post in the French Hill settlement in northern East Jerusalem. The attack killed seven people; reports placed the number injured between 35 and about 50.

Shortly after 7:05 am on that Wednesday, a Palestinian suicide bomber exited a red Audi vehicle next to the bus station. The bus stop had previously been targeted and was heavily guarded; two Border Police patrolmen securing the site chased the suspect in an attempt to stop him, but he ran past them into the middle of a crowd waiting for a bus. He then detonated an explosive device he was carrying in a bag. Seven people were killed, and dozens of others were injured by the force of the blast and by shrapnel packed around the device, with eight of the wounded sustaining severe injuries. The blast destroyed the concrete bus station; a bulldozer later removed what remained of the structure. The two Border Police patrolmen at the scene were wounded, one seriously.

The attack occurred one day after a separate bombing in southern Jerusalem killed 19 people on a bus, described as the deadliest bombing in the city in six years. The Daily Telegraph reported that both attacks were timed to disrupt an expected announcement by U.S. President George W. Bush regarding a future Palestinian state, and that Bush did delay his planned speech; White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said "It's obvious that the immediate aftermath is not the right time."

Shortly after the French Hill bombing, the Palestinian militant group Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, which identifies itself as the military wing of Fatah (then led by Yasser Arafat), claimed responsibility during a broadcast on Lebanese television.

In response, roughly three hours after the attack, Israeli Air Force helicopters fired rockets at metal workshops in the Gaza Strip said to be used for weapons manufacturing; Reuters reported at least five rockets struck sites in Gaza City and Khan Yunis.

Israeli government spokesman Arye Mekel called the attack "another carnage, another brutal attack on innocent people who were standing, waiting for a bus." The Palestinian Authority condemned the attack, stating it "reiterates its condemnation and denunciation" of "all operations against Israeli civilians." Yasser Arafat issued a statement calling on Palestinians to stop attacks against Israelis, describing the targeting of civilians, Israeli or Palestinian, as "a deplorable act" and not "legitimate resistance."