The Davidka Square bus bombing was a suicide bombing on June 11, 2003 on Egged bus line 14a in the center of Jerusalem, Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

. 17 people were killed in the attack and over 100 people were injured.

Hamas

Hamas

Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...

 claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack

At about 17:30 pm on Wednesday, June 11, 2003, a Palestinian suicide bomber dressed as an Orthodox Jew, boarded bus 14a at the Mahane Yehuda market bus stop on Jaffa Road

Jaffa Road

Jaffa Road is one of the longest and oldest streets in Jerusalem. It crosses the city from east to west, from the Old City walls to downtown Jerusalem, the western portal of Jerusalem and the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway. It is lined with shops, businesses and restaurants...

. At Davidka Square

Davidka Square

Davidka Square is a public square at the intersection of Jaffa Road, Street of the Prophets, and Kiach Road in Jerusalem, Israel. Its official name is Kikar Haherut...

, the bomber detonated his explosive device, which contained a large quantity of metal shrapnel designed to cause maximum casualties.

17 people were killed in the attack and more than 100 people were injured, including dozens of passersby.

Fatalities

Sgt. Tamar Ben-Eliahu, 20, of Moshav Paran Alan Beer, 46, of Jerusalem Eugenia Berman, 50, of Jerusalem Elsa Cohen, 70, of Jerusalem Zvi Cohen, 39, of Jerusalem Roi Eliraz, 22, of Mevaseret Zion Mevaseret Zion Mevaseret Zion is a suburb of Jerusalem, Israel. Mevaseret Zion is composed of two distinct townships, Maoz Zion and Mevaseret Yerushalayim—under the jurisdiction of one local council. The newer neighborhoods of Mevaseret Zion were not part of either settlement.Mevaseret Zion is located on a... Alexander Kazaris, 77, of Jerusalem Yaffa Mualem, 65, of Jerusalem Yaniv Obayed, 22, of Herzliya Herzliya Herzliya is a city in the central coast of Israel, at the western part of the Tel Aviv District. It has a population of 87,000 residents. Named after Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, Herzliya covers an area of 26 km²...

Bat-El Ohana, 21, of Kiryat Ata Anna Orgal, 55, of Jerusalem Zippora Pesahovitch, 54, of Tzur Hadassah Tzur Hadassah Tzur Hadassah is a communal settlement in central Israel. Located in the Judean Hills around west of Jerusalem, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In 2008 it had a population of 6,100.... Bianca Rivka Shichrur, 62, of Jerusalem Malka Sultan, 67, of Jerusalem Bertin Tita, 75, of Jerusalem Miriam Levy, 74, of Jerusalem Haile Abraha Hawki, 56, a foreign worker from Eritrea Eritrea Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...

The perpetrators

Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack and stated that the attack was an act of vengeance for the Israeli assassination attempt on the senior Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi

Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi

Dr. Abdel Aziz Ali Abdulmajid al-Rantissi ; 23 October 1947 – 17 April 2004) was the co-founder of the militant Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas with Sheikh Ahmed Yassin....

 on Tuesday, June 10th 2003. Rantisi survived the assassination attempt during which Israeli helicopters fired missiles at his car.

Israeli retaliation

Shortly after the bus attack, Israel launched a counter terrorism attack in east Gaza in which Israeli helicopters fired rockets at a moving car carrying among others two seniors of the Hamas

Hamas

Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...

 military arm. All of the car's 6 passengers were killed in the counter attack.

Official reactions

Involved parties
 Israel: A spokesman for the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon

Ariel Sharon

Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....

 stated that the suicide attack indicates that the Palestinians have done nothing to crack down on militants.

 Palestinian territories:

• Palestinian National Authority
  Palestinian National Authority
  The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...
  
   - Yasser Arafat
  Yasser Arafat
  Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...
  
   condemned the attack and urged Arabs and Israelis alike to stop the violence.

International – US President George Bush

George Bush

George Bush most often refers to:*George H. W. Bush , 41st President of the United States *George W. Bush , 43rd President of the United States , eldest son of George H. W...

 condemned the attack and urged all nations to cut off financial assistance to terrorists and "isolate those who hate so much that they are willing to kill."

External links

• Jerusalem Bus Bomb Kills 17 as Strife Rises; Airstrikes in Gaza Kill 9 Palestinians; Bush Plan Is Tested - published on the Washington Post on June 12, 2003