Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
: ) was a suicide attack on 6 July 1989 carried out by Abd al-Hadi Ghanim of the
Palestinian Islamic Jihad
The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine ( ar, حركة الجهاد الإسلامي في فلسطين, ''Harakat al-Jihād al-Islāmi fi Filastīn''), known in the West simply as Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), is a Palestinian Islamist pa ...
.This Week In History: Terror attack on Bus 405 Jerusalem Post On a crowded Egged commuter bus line No. 405
en route
''En route'' may refer to:
* ''En Route'' (novel), an 1895 novel by Joris-Karl Huysmans
* ''En Route'' (film), a 2004 German movie directed by Jan Krüger
* En-route chart, in aeronautics
* enRoute (credit card), Air Canada's credit card divisi ...
from
Tel-Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...
to
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, Ghanim seized the steering wheel of the bus, running it off a steep cliff into a
ravine
A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.Qiryat Ye'arim. 16 civilians—including two Canadians and one American—died in the attack, and 27 were wounded.
The incident is described as the first Palestinian suicide attack despite the fact that the attacker survived.
Attack
On 6 July 1989, Egged commuter bus line No. 405 began its regular route from
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...
to
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. When the bus passed
Neve Ilan
Neve Ilan ( he, נְוֵה אִילָן, lit. ''Oasis of Ilan'') is a moshav shitufi in central Israel. Located west of Jerusalem, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In it had a population of . Previously a kibbutz ...
, Ghanim attacked the driver, seized the steering wheel of the bus and pulled the bus over a steep precipice into a
ravine
A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.Qiryat Ye'arim. The driver was unable to stabilize the bus; as a result the vehicle rolled down the depth of the ravine and caught fire. Some of the passengers were burned alive.
Sixteen civilians were killed in the attack, including two Canadians and one American, and 27 were wounded. Students from the Telz-Stone
yeshiva
A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are st ...
who heard the screaming rushed to the scene to administer first aid. One of them, Yehuda Meshi Zahav, went on to found
ZAKA
ZAKA ( he, זק"א, abbreviation for ''Zihuy Korbanot Ason'', , literally: "Disaster Victim Identification") is a series of voluntary community emergency response teams in Israel, each operating in a police district (two in the Central Distr ...
, a volunteer rescue service organization.
Perpetrator
The perpetrator, who survived the crash, received medical treatment for his injuries in an Israeli hospital. After the attack, it was revealed that the perpetrator was a 25-year-old Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant named Abd al-Hadi Rafa Ghanim who originated from the Nusseirat refugee camp in the
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
. Ghanim was convicted and given 16
life sentences
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes ...
for murder, hijacking and terrorism. On 18 October 2011, Ghanim was released to Gaza as part of the
Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange
The Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange (; ), also known as "Wafa al-Ahrar" (''"Faithful to the free"''), followed a 2011 agreement between Israel and Hamas to release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for 1,027 prisoners — almost all Pales ...
between Israel and Hamas.
In popular culture
*In the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
drama ''
Heroes
Heroes or Héroes may refer to:
* Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good
Film
* ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama
* ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film
Gaming
* ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...
'', the character Hana Gitelman, along with her grandmother and mother, were on board when the attack happened. Of the three, Hana was the sole survivor and in the series, she is turned into a superhero.
*Israeli singer Ruhama Raz recorded the song "As Rachel Waited" (כחכות רחל), which she wrote in memory of her sister, Miriam Tzerafi, who was killed in the attack.Miriam Tzerafi /ref>
*Autho Paul Rabinowitz uses the incident as the arc of his novella, "The Clay Urn" (Main St. Rag Publishers, 2020). The author was guiding a group of tourists when the oncoming bus (405) went off the cliff. He was the first one into the ravine and comforted one of the female passengers who will become the inspiration for the main character, Ilana. "The Clay Urn" was originally published as a short story in Linden Avenue Literary Journal, 2016.
List of Palestinian Islamic Jihad suicide attacks
This article contains lists of Palestinian suicide attacks carried out by Palestinian people, Palestinian individuals and militant groups, usually against Israeli civilian targets. The use of indiscriminate attacks on civilian populations is Gen ...