On 20 June 2003, the Goldsteins, an Israeli family of four, were in a car on

Route 60 The following highways are numbered 60: International * Asian Highway 60 * European route E60 Australia * Bruxner Highway * Dawson Highway (Rolleston to Gladstone) – Queensland State Route 60 Brazil * BR-060 Canada * Alberta Highway 6 ...

in the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

headed towards

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

when two

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

members waiting in ambush on the roadside opened fire with

AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kala ...

s, hitting all four occupants. With the driver, Tzvi Goldstein, injured, the front passenger and father of the driver took the steering wheel and helped drive the car away from the gunmen and for a further eight miles in search of help before the car flipped over. Tzvi, an American-Israeli settler who had emigrated from the US a decade earlier, died of his injuries, while his family all survived, though with varying degrees of injury, after being taken to

Hadassah Medical Center Hadassah Medical Center () is an Israeli medical organization established in 1934 that operates two university hospitals in Jerusalem (one in Ein Karem and one in Mount Scopus) as well as schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, and pharmacology ...

Responsibility

immediately claimed responsibility for the shooting attack. This claim, in 2003, was described by the ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

'' newspaper as "surprising," since, according to writer

Amos Harel Amos Harel (Hebrew: עמוס הראל) is an Israeli journalist. Personal Harel was born in 1968. He attended high school in Hebrew University Secondary School. He graduated from Tel Aviv University and lives in Hod Hasharon. Journalism care ...

, before the attack, the "militant Islamic organization" (Hamas) has almost completely avoided carrying out shootings in the West Bank, focusing instead on using suicide bombers, primarily within the Green Line. On 21 June, the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

killed Abdullah Qawasmeh, who was believed to be the senior Hamas commander in the Hebron area.

Immediate impact

The attack was also described as disruptive to the

Road map for peace The roadmap for peace or road map for peace ( ''Mapa had'rakhim'', ''Khāriṭa ṭarīq as-salāmu'') was a plan to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict proposed by the Quartet on the Middle East. The principles of the plan, originally ...

, an initiative involving United States Secretary of State

Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; – ) was an Americans, American diplomat, and army officer who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American to hold the office. He was the 15th National Security ...

, who was in Jerusalem at the time of the ambush. According to Ian Fisher of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', the attack was interpreted "as a message to Mr. Powell, the Israelis and its Palestinian supporters that Hamas remains strong and very much active."

Lawsuit

In 2004 Lorraine and Eugene Goldstein, who live in

Plainview, New York Plainview is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the town of Oyster Bay (town), New York, Oyster Bay in east central Nassau County, New York, United States. The population of the CDP was 27,100. The Plainv ...

, sued the

Arab Bank Arab Bank is a Jordanian bank that is one of the largest financial institutions in the Middle East. It is headquartered today in Amman, Jordan, and operates as a universal bank that serves clients in more than 600 branches spanning five contine ...

for laundering money used to fund Hamas terror attacks targeting Israelis, including the attack in which his son, Howard, was killed. In 2006, the Goldsteins joined a group of 50 American victims of terrorism (survivors or relatives of people murdered by terrorists), suing three large international banks,

Crédit Lyonnais The Crédit Lyonnais (, "Lyon Credit ompany) was a major French bank, created in 1863 and absorbed by former rival Crédit Agricole in 2003. Its head office was initially in Lyon but moved to Paris in 1882. In the early years of the 20th cen ...

, Arab Bank, and

NatWest National Westminster Bank, trading as NatWest, is a major Retail banking, retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the Corporate merger, merger of National Provincial Bank and We ...

, alleging that all three banks were involved in channeling money to

, which has been listed by the government of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as a terrorist organization since 1997. The Anti-Terrorism Act enables American victims of acts of terrorism that take place outside the United States can sue for damages in federal courts. In August 2015,

agreed to a confidential settlement with hundreds of American victims of terrorism, including the Goldsteins.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Route 60 Hamas ambush Terrorist incidents in the West Bank in 2003 Hamas attacks June 2003 in Asia 2003 murders in Asia June 2003 crimes in Asia Ambushes of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict 2003 mass shootings in Asia Mass shootings in Palestine 2000s road incidents in Asia 2003 road incidents Road incidents in Palestine Israeli casualties in the Second Intifada