The Mehola Junction bombing (also known as the Beit El bombing, literally, the House of God bombing) was the first suicide car bomb attack carried out by

Palestinian militants Palestinian political violence refers to acts of violence perpetrated for political ends in relation to the State of Palestine or in connection with Palestinian nationalism. Common political objectives include self-determination in and sovereig ...

and took place on 16 April 1993. Hamas bombmaker

Yahya Ayyash Yahya Abd-al-Latif Ayyash ( ar, يحيى عياش) (6 March 1966 – 5 January 1996) was the chief bombmaker of Hamas and the leader of the West Bank battalion of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. In that capacity, he earned the nickname ''the E ...

rigged a

Volkswagen Transporter The Volkswagen Transporter, based on the Volkswagen Group's T platform, now in its seventh generation, refers to a series of vans produced for over 70 years and marketed worldwide. The T series is now considered an official list of Volkswagen Gr ...

using three large

propane Propane () is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used a ...

tanks and explosives collected from

grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...

s and other ordnance. The bomb was connected to a detonator switch in the driver's controls.Katz (2002), pg. 74 Hamas operative Saher Tamam al-Nabulsi drove the car to

Mehola Mehola ( he, מְחוֹלָה) is a religious moshav and Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Located in the Jordan Valley near the Green Line and the Palestinian village of Bardala,Isabel KershneStrategic Corridor in West Bank Remains a Stumb ...

Junction, a

rest area A rest area is a public facility located next to a large thoroughfare such as a motorway, expressway, or highway, at which drivers and passengers can rest, eat, or refuel without exiting onto secondary roads. Other names include motorway servi ...

on the Jordan Valley Highway in the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. Just after 1:00 AM, the car exploded between two buses, one civilian and one military. The blast killed al-Nabulsi and Marwan Ghani, a Palestinian from the nearby village of

Bardala Bardala ( ar, بردلة) is a Palestinian village in the northern Jordan Valley of the West Bank, consisting of 1,637 inhabitants. The town lies in the Tubas Governorate, located thirteen kilometers northeast of Tubas and 28 kilometers northeast ...

who worked in a snack bar in Mehola.Jerusalem Post, 18 April 1993, pg. 1. Ghani's brother and eight Israeli soldiers were slightly injured.

References

* Arab–Israeli conflict 1993 in the Palestinian territories First Intifada Hamas suicide bombings Attacks on buses by Palestinian militant groups Palestinian terrorism Terrorist attacks attributed to Palestinian militant groups Terrorist incidents in Asia in 1993 1993 crimes in the Israeli Civil Administration area Islamic terrorism in Israel 1993 murders in Asia {{terrorism-stub