2003 French Hill suicide bombings

On the morning of 18 May 2003, during rush hour, a Palestinian suicide bomber disguised as a Haredi Jewish man boarded a No. 6 passenger bus near the French Hill settlement in northern East Jerusalem. At approximately 5:45 am, he detonated a nail-studded explosive belt strapped to his body. Seven civilians were killed, including four Russian immigrants and an Arab resident of Jerusalem. Twenty other people were injured, four of them seriously.

A few minutes after the first attack, a second suicide bomber detonated explosives at the entrance to the village of Dahiya el-Barid, near Jerusalem. Only the bomber himself was killed in what appeared to be a premature detonation; no other casualties were reported from this second incident.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombings. Relatives of a 19-year-old man, identified as a Hamas activist from Hebron, later officially identified him as the perpetrator of the first attack.

The bombings drew condemnation and reaction from multiple parties. Israeli officials stated they would "continue to fight terror everywhere, at any time and in any way possible." The Palestinian National Authority condemned the bombings. US Secretary of State Colin Powell condemned the attack "in the strongest possible terms," calling it a "horrific terrorist bombing." Russian officials also condemned the attack and called on the international community to intensify counterterrorism efforts and activate Middle East peace efforts.