Bat Mitzvah massacre

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Bat Mitzvah massacre

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Bat Mitzvah massacre
Part of the Second Intifada militancy campaign
Israel outline center ta.png
Red pog.svg
The attack site
Location Hadera, Israel
Date January 17, 2002
9:45 pm (GMT+2)
Attack type shooting attack
Weapon(s) M16 Rifle
Deaths 6 Israeli civilians (+ 1 attacker)
Injured 33 Israeli civilians
Perpetrator Abdul Salaam Sadek Hassouneh
(al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility)

The Bat Mitzvah massacre was a terrorist attack in Hadera, Israel on Thursday January 17, 2002, in which a Palestinian gunman, 24-year-old Abdul Salaam Sadek Hassouneh, killed six people and wounded 33 at a Bat Mitzvah celebration, a traditional Jewish celebration held for a 12-year-old girl.[1][2]

Contents

The 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 one of its leaders. An Israeli police spokesman said the man, apparently on a suicide mission, had detonated explosives on him and thrown several grenades into the Armon David wedding hall, where the Bat Mitzvah celebration took place. A belt filled with explosives was found on the attacker. [2]

Fatalities

The perpetrators

The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said the killer, 24-year-old Abdel Salam Hassouna, was from a village near Nablus and launched the attack to avenge the death of Raed Karmi.[2]

After the attack a video made earlier by the killer was released, in which he is seen declaring: "I am doing this to avenge all the Palestinian martyrs."[5]

Aftermath

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.[5]

Official reactions

Involved parties

 Israel

 Palestinian territories:

International
  •  United States: the US government condemned the Hadera attack "in the strongest possible terms," calling it a "horrific act of terrorism."[3]

References

See also

External links

References


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