The Yagur Junction bombing was a suicide bombing which occurred on April 10, 2002 on an Egged commuter bus line number 960 which was passing through Yagur Junction in northern Israel. 8 people were killed in the attack and 19 people were injured.

The attack

On Wednesday, around 7:15 am April 10, 2002, a Palestinian militant exploded himself on Egged bus no. 960 which was on its way from Haifa

Haifa

Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...

 to Jerusalem. The explosion occurred while the bus was passing passing near Kibbutz Yagur

Yagur

Yagur is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located on the slopes of Mount Carmel about 9 km southeast of Haifa, it is one of the two largest kibbutzim in the country, with a population of 1,124 in 2008. It falls under the jurisdiction of Zevulun Regional Council....

. The Israeli police estimation was that the suicide bomber boarded the bus at its' first stop in Haifa and detonated the bomb after only five kilometers.

Eight people were killed in the attack and 19 others were injured, three of them seriously. Most of the injured were Israeli soldiers and policemen. The force of the blast also damaged many vehicles in nearby proximity.

Fatalities

Border Police Cpl. Keren Franco, 18, of Kiryat Yam Border Police Cpl. Noa Shlomo, 18, of Nahariya Nahariya Nahariya is the northernmost coastal city in Israel, with an estimated population of 51,200.-History:Nahariya was founded by German Jewish immigrants from the Fifth Aliyah in the 1930s... IDF Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Shlomi Ben-Haim, 26, of Kiryat Yam Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Nir Danieli, 24, of Kiryat Ata

Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Ze'ev Henik, 24, of Karmiel Karmiel Karmiel is a city in northern Israel. Established in 1964 as a development town, Karmiel is located in the Beit HaKerem Valley which divides upper and lower Galilee. The city is located south of the Acre-Safed road, from Safed and from Acre... IDF Sgt. Michael Weissman, 21, of Kiryat Yam Prisons Service warder Shimon Stelkol, 34, of Kiryat Yam Avinoam Alafia, 26, of Kiryat Ata

The perpetrators

The Palestinian Islamist militant organization 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 and stated that the suicide bomber was a Palestinian from Jenin

Jenin

Jenin is the largest town in the Northern West Bank, and the third largest city overall. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate and is a major agricultural center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, the city had a population of 120,004 not including the adjacent refugee...

 named Iman al-Hijah.

External links

• MIDEAST TURMOIL: HAIFA; New Suicide Raid Casts Doubt on Israeli Strategy - posted on the New York Times on April 11, 2002
• Israeli Bus Bomber Kills 8 - posted on the WSB-TV
  WSB-TV
  WSB-TV, virtual channel 2.1 , is the ABC affiliate in Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship television station of Cox Enterprises and its Cox Media Group subsidiary...
  
  on April 10, 2002