12 July 2005 HaSharon Mall suicide bombing

The second HaSharon Mall
entrance suicide bombing
Part of the Second Intifada militancy campaign
The attack site
Location Netanya, Israel
Date July 12, 2005
6:35 pm (GMT+2)
Attack type
 suicide bombing
Deaths 5 Israeli civilians (+ 1 bomber)
Non-fatal injuries
 90+ Israeli civilians
Perpetrators Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility

The second HaSharon Mall entrance suicide bombing was a suicide bombing which occurred on July 12, 2005 in the HaSharon Mall in Netanya, Israel. 5 people were killed in the attack.

The Palestinian Islamist militant organization Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack

During the late afternoon of July 12, 2005 a Palestinian suicide bomber approached the popular HaSharon Mall in the center of the coastal city Netanya. The suicide bomber who was wearing hidden explosives underneath his clothes, detonated himself at about 6:35 pm on a pedestrian crossing, after approaching a group of four young women, who were crossing the road.

Three women were killed in the attack. An IDF corporal and another woman died of their injuries following the attack. In addition, about 90 people were injured in the attack, five of them seriously. The explosion which occurred in a busy intersection outside of the mall during the evening rush hour also caused damaged to many of the nearby automobiles, and in addition, some of the shopping center's windows were shattered.

After the attack the local police stated that the suicide bomber carried around 10 kg of explosives, as well as nails and metal pellets, on an explosive belt that was strapped to his body. Netanya's mayor, Miriam Fierberg, was present on the scene of the attack and immediately began assisting the injured.

Fatalities

  • Rachel Ben Abu, 16, of Tel Aviv[1]
  • Nofar Horowitz, 16, of Tel Aviv[2]
  • Julia Voloshin, 31, of Netanya[3]
  • Anya Lifshitz, 50, of Netanya[4]
  • Cpl. Moshe Maor Jan, 21, of Tel Aviv[5]

The perpetrators

The Palestinian Islamist militant organization Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack and stated that the attack was carried out by 18-year-old Palestinian student Ahmad Abu-Halil from the West Bank village of Atil.

Aftermath

On the day of the bombing, Israeli defense minister, Shaul Mofaz, canceled a meeting with the Palestinian minister for civil affairs, Mohammed Dahlan, set for that evening to coordinate various issues regarding Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Official reactions

Involved parties

 Israel

 Palestinian territories:

The Vatican was criticised by many Jewish and Zionist organizations for not expressing concern over the loss of Israeli lives. The Holy See spokesperson responded as follows:

Not every attack against Israel could be followed by an immediate public condemnation. There are various reasons for this, among them the fact that attacks against Israel were sometimes followed by immediate Israeli reactions not always compatible with the norms of international law. It would, consequently, have been impossible to condemn the former and remain silent on the latter.[6]

This statement, which equated terrorist attacks with Israeli military operations, caused some tension between the Vatican and the Israeli government.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Rachel Ben Abu". GxMSDev. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  2. ↑ "Nofar Horowitz". GxMSDev. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  3. ↑ "Julia Voloshin". GxMSDev. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  4. ↑ "Anya Lifshitz". GxMSDev. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  5. ↑ "Cpl. Moshe Maor Jan". GxMSDev. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  6. ↑ Vatican statement, July 2005

External links

Wikinews has related news: Suicide attack hits mall in Netanya, Israel

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, March 08, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.