2006 Tel Aviv shawarma restaurant bombing

2006 Tel Aviv shawarma restaurant bombing
The attack site The attack site
Location	"Rosh Ha'ir" shawarma restaurant, Tel Aviv, Israel
Coordinates
Date	April 17, 2006
Attack type	suicide attack
Deaths	11 civilians (+ 1 bomber)
Injured	70 civilians
Perpetrators	Islamic Jihad

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 people were killed in the attack and 70 were injured. The Palestinian militant organization Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack

On Monday, April 17, 2006, around 1:30 pm, a Palestinian suicide bomber approached a crowded fast food restaurant near the old Tel Aviv Central Bus Station in the southern part of the Neve Shaanan neighborhood. The suicide bomber blew himself up when the security guard stationed at the entrance to the restaurant asked him to open his bag for inspection.

The blast killed 11 people and injured more than 70. Two of the victims died on arrival at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv. Of the wounded, six were seriously hurt, 12 sustained moderate wounds, while the rest were lightly injured.

Fatalities

Philip Balhasan, 45, of Ashdod Rozalia Beseneyi, 48, of Romania Piroşca Boda 50, of Romania Marcel Cohen, 73, of Nice, France Ariel Darhi, 31, of Bat Yam Victor Erez, 60, of Givatayim

Binyamin Haputa, 47, of Lod David Shaulov, 29, of Holon Lily Yunes, 43, of Oranit Lior Anidzar, 26, of Tel Aviv – died of his wounds on May 13. Daniel Wultz, 16, of Weston, Florida, USA – died of his wounds on May 14.

The perpetrators

Palestinian group Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for the attack and identified the bomber as Sami Salim Hamad, an Islamic Jihad activist from the village of Qabatiya in the West Bank.

After the attack the Islamic Jihad published a video tape in which the militant organization stated that the attack was carried out by the 21-year-old Palestinian Sami Salim Hammad from the village of Araqah, who infiltrated into Israel from the West Bank.

Official reactions

Involved parties

Israel

• Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Gideon Meir stated that Israel held Hamas responsible for the attacks, accusing the Hamas of "giving support to all the other terrorist organizations".

Palestinian territories:

• Hamas, which won the Palestinian general elections on 25 January 2006, refused to condemn the attack, and instead described the attack as an act of this self-defense.
• Khaled Abu Helal, spokesman for the Hamas-led Interior Ministry, called the attack "a direct result of the policy of the occupation and the brutal aggression and siege committed against our people."

International

• United States: The Bush administration has strongly criticized the attacks, calling it "a despicable act of terror for which there is no excuse or justification."

U.S. Court ruling on case

The family of Daniel Wultz won a case in May 2012 in a U.S. District Court against Iran and Syria for their supporting "Palestinian militants" in this suicide bombing attack. The amount of the judgement was for $323,000,000 and represented the first time that a U.S. court issued a judgement against Syria for terror related activities.

See also

• 2002 Herzliya shawarma restaurant bombing

External links

• Suicide bombing at "Rosh Ha'ir" shawarma restaurant in Tel Aviv - published at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Palestinian bomber was 21-year-old dropout - published on USA Today on April 17, 2006.
• Suicide bomber kills nine in Tel Aviv - published on MSNBC on April 17, 2006.
• 9 killed in Tel Aviv blast - published on Ynetnews on April 17, 2006.