Hadera Bat Mitzvah attack

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Hadera Bat Mitzvah attack
Part of the Second Intifada militancy campaign
The attack site is located in Central Israel
The attack site
The attack site
LocationHadera, Israel
DateJanuary 17, 2002; 20 years ago (2002-01-17)
9:45 pm (GMT+2)
Attack type
Mass shooting, massacre, murder-suicide, suicide bombing
WeaponsM16 assault rifle
Deaths7 (including the perpetrator)
Injured33
PerpetratorAbdul Salaam Sadek Hassouneh
(al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility)

On Thursday, January 17, 2002 a Palestinian gunman, 24-year-old Abdul Salaam Sadek Hassouneh, killed six people and wounded 33 at a Bat Mitzvah celebration in Hadera, Israel.[1][2]

Attack[]

The attack took place at 9:45 pm (GMT+2) as guests were departing.[3] The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades assumed responsibility for the attack, claiming it was vengeance for the killing of its leader Raed Karmi. An Israeli police spokesman said the man, apparently on a suicide mission, had thrown several grenades into the Armon David wedding hall, where the Bat Mitzvah celebration had taken place, and detonated explosives on himself. A belt filled with explosives was found on the attacker.[1]

Media coverage[]

The Al Jazeera television network was criticized for bias in coverage of the massacre, failing to note that the victims were attending a bat mitzvah and that the gunman crashed the event at a crowded banquet hall, and failing to mention the number of people killed by Raed Karmi when covering his assassination several days earlier, which would have provided context for the story.[4]

Perpetrator[]

The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said the attacker, 24-year-old Abdel Salam Hassouna, was from a village near Nablus and launched the attack to avenge the death of Raed Karmi.[1]

After the attack a video made earlier by the attacker was released, in which he is seen declaring: "I am doing this to avenge all the Palestinian martyrs."[4]

Official reactions[]

Involved parties

 Israel

 Palestinian territories:

  • The Palestinian Authority condemned the attack but blamed Israel for provoking it.[3]
International
  •  United States: the US government condemned the Hadera attack "in the strongest possible terms," calling it a "horrific act of terrorism."[3] The widow of the one American killed in the attack, Aharon Ellis, brought a lawsuit against the Palestinian Authority that received a $173 million default judgment in 2006, and in 2009 was settled out of court.[5]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Bat mitzvah massacre in Israel leaves seven dead, Phil Reeves, 18 January 2002
  2. ^ Jackson, Brian A. (2007). Breaching the Fortress Wall: Understanding Terrorist Efforts to Overcome Defensive Technologies. Rand Corporation. ISBN 9780833039149.
  3. ^ a b c Gunman kills 6 Israelis; jets fire missiles in response, January 18, 2002. CNN
  4. ^ a b Perspectives on war. Hickey, Neil, Columbia Journalism Review, March 1, 2002
  5. ^ Gerstein, Josh (2 February 2010). "Palestinians reverse on terror victim". Politico. Retrieved 30 May 2021.

External links[]

Coordinates: 32°26′18″N 34°55′32″E / 32.4382°N 34.9255°E / 32.4382; 34.9255

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