The 2012 Tel Aviv bus bombing was a mass-injury terror attack carried out on November 21, 2012, on a crowded passenger bus driving in the center of Tel Aviv's business district. The attack was carried out by an
Israeli citizen of Arab descent, who remotely detonated an
explosive device
An explosive device is a device that relies on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide a violent release of energy.
Applications of explosive devices include:
*Building implosion (demolition)
* Excavation
*Explosive forming
...
, which he had hid on the bus in advance. Twenty-eight civilians were injured in the attack, among them three who were injured seriously. The attack was carried out on the 8th and last day of
Operation Pillar of Defense, only a few hours before the ceasefire was reached.
The attack was the first mass-injury terror attack in Tel Aviv since the
2006 Tel Aviv shawarma restaurant bombing
The 2006 Tel Aviv shawarma restaurant bombing was a suicide bombing on April 17, 2006 at "Rosh Ha'ir" shawarma restaurant in Tel Aviv, Israel. Eleven Israeli civilians were killed in the attack and 70 were injured. The Palestinian militant organ ...
, in which 11 people were killed and 70 were injured.
Attack
At around noon, on November 21, an
explosive device
An explosive device is a device that relies on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide a violent release of energy.
Applications of explosive devices include:
*Building implosion (demolition)
* Excavation
*Explosive forming
...
was detonated on a crowded passenger bus at the heart of Tel Aviv's
business district
A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
. The attack was carried out on
Dan
Dan or DAN may refer to:
People
* Dan (name), including a list of people with the name
** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark
* Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa
**Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoir ...
commuter bus No. 142, as the bus was passing through Shaul Hamelech Street.
The explosive device contained a large quantity of metal
shrapnel designed to cause maximum casualties. At least 28 people were injured in the attack, including three people who were injured severely.
At Gaza's main hospital, which had seen many wounded people from
Operation Pillar of Cloud
In November 2012, the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Pillar of Defense ( he, עַמּוּד עָנָן, ''ʿAmúd ʿAnán'', literally: "Pillar of Cloud") which was an eight-day campaign in the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip, which beg ...
, sweet cakes were distributed in celebration.
The bus bombing was lauded from a Gaza mosque's loudspeakers
and celebratory gunfire was heard when news of the bombing was reported.
Perpetrators
Two days after the attack, in a joint operation carried out by the
Shin Bet, the
Israel Police, and the
IDF
IDF or idf may refer to:
Defence forces
* Irish Defence Forces
* Israel Defense Forces
*Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006
* Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917
Organizations
* Israeli Diving Federation
* Interac ...
, Muhammad Mafarji, 18, of
Tayibe, a West Bank-born Palestinian originally from
Beit Liqya
Beit Liqya ( ar, بيت لقيا) is a Palestinian town located in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, it had a population of approximately 7,710 in 2007, of wh ...
who had
received Israeli citizenship for
family reunification purposes, was arrested. Mafarji confessed to carrying out the attack and to having prepared the explosive device, chosen the target of the attack, and purchased a mobile phone which he used to remotely activate the explosive device.
['After bombing bus, terrorist went to work']
/ref>
According to Israeli security officials, Mafarji was a member of a Palestinian militant cell based 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 ...
town of Beit Liqya
Beit Liqya ( ar, بيت لقيا) is a Palestinian town located in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, it had a population of approximately 7,710 in 2007, of wh ...
, which has links to 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 ...
and Islamic Jihad. Khaled Mashal, leader of Hamas, categorically rejected that Hamas had any connection with the bombing.
According to papers filed in court, the suspects include Ahmad Salah Ahmad Musa, a 25-year-old resident of Beit Liqya; Fuad Rabah Shukri Atzi, 27, of Beit Liqya; and Muhammed Mahfud Said Damra, a 25-year-old resident of Kfar Mazra near Ramallah. Musa was reported as being the head of the militant cell. According to investigators, Mafaraji had returned to the West Bank to study at Birzeit University
Birzeit University (BZU; ar, جامعة بيرزيت) is a public university in the West Bank, in the State of Palestine, registered by the Palestinian Ministry of Social Affairs as charitable organization. It is accredited by the Palestinian Mi ...
, and in the two months prior to the attack, he had been living at his uncle's house in Beit Liqya studying at Birzeit and regularly commuting to Israel to work at the McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
at a mall in the Israeli city of Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut, close to the Israel-West Bank border. According to Israeli officials, during the sixth day of Operation Pillar of Defense, Mafaraji was shopping at a West Bank grocery store owned by Musa, and expressed his desire to fight alongside Hamas. Musa then asked him to return later to discuss the matter further. When he returned, Musa asked him to place a bag on a bus as a test run, which he successfully completed. The two then began planning an attack. Moussa prepared a bomb that could be detonated by cell phone and hid it in a bag of clothes, then took Mafaraji to the Harbata checkpoint, where he crossed into Israel to meet with the manager of the McDonald's where he worked. As the manager was driving him to his job, Mafaraji faked a phone call and claimed to have learned that his mother was ill, and that he needed to go back to her. After leaving the vehicle, he took a bus to Tel Aviv, where he boarded the No. 142 bus, armed the bomb, and planted it under a seat. When the bus reached the planned destination point, Mafaraji got off and called Musa to tell him the bomb was in place, at which point Musa detonated the bomb with his cell phone. Mafaraji then walked to the Tel Aviv Savidor Central Railway Station
The Tel Aviv Savidor Central railway station ( he, תֵּל אָבִיב סָבִידוֹר מֶרְכָּז, ''Tel Aviv Savidor Merkaz'', ar, تل أبيب مركز سافيدور) is a major railway station on the Ayalon Railway in central Te ...
, took a train to Modi'in, and went to the McDonald's where he worked to begin his afternoon shift. He was arrested four and a half hours after the attack.[
On December 19, 2012, Muhammad Mafaraji was charged in the Tel Aviv District Court with attempted murder, aiding the enemy during wartime, and conspiracy to commit a crime. The most serious charge of aiding the enemy carried the possibility of a life sentence. In December 2013, he reached a plea bargain with prosecutors, under which he pleaded guilty to attempted murder and aiding the enemy in exchange for the prosecution not seeking a sentence greater than 25 years. On March 10, 2014, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison.]
Official reactions
;Domestic
:
* Ofir Gendelman
Ofir Gendelman ( he, אופיר גנדלמן; ar, أوفير جندلمان) (born July 19, 1971) is an Israeli diplomat and current spokesperson to the Arab media in the Israel Prime Minister's Office, a position he has held since April 2010, pr ...
, a spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, condemned the attack and referred to it as a "terrorist attack".
: 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 ...
praised the attack, without claiming direct responsibility for it, calling it the "natural response to the occupation crimes and ongoing massacres against civilians in the Gaza Strip", and said that the organisation "blesses" the attack. Khaled Mashal, leader of Hamas, categorically rejected any connection of the bombing to his group.
;Supranational bodies
* Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...
deplored the attack, saying that nothing justified the targeting of civilians.
;International
* : The Russian foreign ministry termed the bombing a "criminal terrorist act".
* : The French Foreign Minister similarly condemned the bombing, adding that it took place during efforts to secure a ceasefire.
* : The Romanian Foreign Minister condemned the bombing, adding his solidarity with Israel.
* : Britain's Foreign Secretary said following the attack that "we are clear that terrorists must not be allowed to set the agenda."
* : The White House called the bombing a terrorist attack against innocent Israeli civilians, and deemed it "outrageous".
Aftermath
On October 22, 2013, Shin Bet announced that Mohammed Assi, an Islamic Jihad member, died in a firefight in Bilin with forces that had come to arrest him on suspicion of his involvement in the bombing.
References
External links
Explosion on Bus in the Heart of Tel Aviv Kills No One but Reopens a Wound
— published in ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' on November 21, 2012
Oil up to above $87 after Tel Aviv bus explosion
— published in The Albany Herald
''The Albany Herald'' is the daily newspaper for metro Albany in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is distributed in metro Albany and in southwest Georgia. The newspaper was founded in 1891. Circulation is 21,701 on weekdays and 24,820 on Sundays. ...
on November 21, 2012
A Bus Bomb Before the Cease-Fire: Tel Aviv's Revived Traumas
— published in Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
on November 21, 2012
Israel arrests suspects in Tel Aviv bus bombing
— published by NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...
on November 22, 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tel Aviv bus bombing, 2012
2010s crimes in Tel Aviv
Bus bombings in Asia
Improvised explosive device bombings in Israel
November 2012 crimes
November 2012 events in Asia
Terrorist attacks attributed to Palestinian militant groups
Terrorist incidents in Israel in 2012
2012 Tel Aviv bus bombing
The 2012 Tel Aviv bus bombing was a mass-injury terror attack carried out on November 21, 2012, on a crowded passenger bus driving in the center of Tel Aviv's business district. The attack was carried out by an Israeli citizen of Arab descent, ...