The Matza restaurant suicide bombing occurred on March 31, 2002, when a

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...

suicide bomber A suicide attack is any violent Strike (attack), attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has suicide, accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have oc ...

detonated his bomb inside the Matza restaurant in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, near the Grand Canyon shopping mall, killing 16 Israeli civilians and injuring over 40 people. Journalist

Giulio Meotti Giulio Meotti is an Italian journalist who writes on Middle Eastern and Jewish issues. He is a strong advocate of Israel, and is critical of both the Catholic Church and of Jews who are themselves critical of Israel, regarding them as abettors of ...

described the attack as a massacre.

The attack

The attack occurred at 14:45 during the

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that celebrates the The Exodus, Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Ancient Egypt, Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew calendar, He ...

vacation in Israel, and the restaurant was crowded with families having their lunch. Despite the Passover suicide bombing which occurred just four days earlier in

Netanya Netanya (also known as Natanya, he, נְתַנְיָה) is a city in the Northern Central District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between Poleg stream and Wingate I ...

, and the tense atmosphere following it, the clients and restaurant owners were not particularly worried about security: The Matza restaurant is operated by an

Israeli Arab The Arab citizens of Israel are the largest ethnic minority in the country. They comprise a hybrid community of Israeli citizens with a heritage of Palestinian citizenship, mixed religions (Muslim, Christian or Druze), bilingual in Arabic an ...

family, and its multi-ethnic nature was thought to make it an unlikely choice for a terrorist attack.

The perpetrators

The military wing of

claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that the bombings would continue as long as the siege of then President of the

Palestinian National Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,

Yasser Arafat Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ar, رام الله, , God's Height) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the ''de facto'' administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusale ...

. In addition, Hamas spokesman stated that the suicide bomber was a 22-year-old Palestinian named Shadi Tubasi who originated from the

Jenin Jenin (; ar, ') is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate of the State of Palestine and is a major center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, Jenin had a population of app ...

area.

External links

Israel hit by double suicide attack
– published on

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

on March 31, 2002
Palestinian bomber rips open restaurant in city that prides itself on coexistence
– published on the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

on March 31, 2002

References

{{Palestinian militancy attacks in the 2000s Explosions in 2002 Mass murder in 2002 Israeli casualties in the Second Intifada Hamas suicide bombings Terrorist incidents in Israel in 2002 Attacks on restaurants in Asia History of Haifa Terrorist incidents in Haifa March 2002 events in Asia Islamic terrorist incidents in 2002 Islamic terrorism in Israel Building bombings in Israel Massacres in Israel during the Israeli–Palestinian conflict

The attack

The perpetrators

See also

External links

References