Gaza Street, Jerusalem · 2000s
Gaza Street bus bombing
On January 29, 2004, a Palestinian suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt aboard Egged bus #19 on Gaza Street in Jerusalem, killing 11 passengers and wounding more than 50 others.
What happened
On the evening of March 9, 2002, shortly before 22:30, a Palestinian suicide bomber entered "Café Moment," a popular coffee shop in Jerusalem's Rehavia neighborhood, located at the corner of Gaza Street and Ben-Maimon Street, roughly 100 meters from the Israeli Prime Minister's residence. Upon entering, the bomber detonated an explosive device concealed under his clothing. The blast destroyed the café and killed 11 Israeli civilians instantly, while injuring 65 others, 10 of them severely. The attack occurred during the Second Intifada, at a location described as one of Jerusalem's most popular recreational gathering spots at the time.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the bombing.
On August 17, 2002, Israeli security forces arrested members of a Hamas cell alleged to have carried out the attack. The individuals were residents of East Jerusalem who held Israeli-issued blue identity cards as permanent residents, which allowed them to travel and work within Israel without arousing suspicion. Israeli security forces stated that this group, referred to in media coverage as the "Silwan cell," was responsible for a series of attacks against Israeli civilians in addition to the Café Moment bombing, with the cell's attacks collectively killing 35 Israeli civilians and injuring 200 others. According to Israeli security forces, the cell operated under instructions from Hamas headquarters in Ramallah directing members to locate crowded public spaces for mass-casualty attacks.
In October 2011, members of the Silwan cell were released from Israeli prison as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange, a deal in which Israel released Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the return of an Israeli soldier held by Hamas.
A civil lawsuit was subsequently filed against the Arab Bank alleging that the institution provided financing connected to the attack.
The bombing occurred during March 2002, which was the month with the highest fatality rate for Israelis during the Second Intifada, with 111 Israeli soldiers and civilians killed that month across more than a dozen militant attacks nationwide. These attacks culminated later that month, on March 27, 2002, in the Passover massacre, which the source states led the Israeli government to launch a major military campaign targeting Palestinian militant infrastructure in the West Bank.
