The Café Moment bombing was a Palestinian suicide bombing of a coffee shop in downtown

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, Israel that killed 11 Israeli civilians and left 54 others wounded. It was carried out on March 9, 2002, during the

Second Intifada The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinians, Palestinian uprising a ...

The attack

On March 9, 2002, shortly before 22:30, a

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

suicide bomber A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout history ...

entered the "Café Moment" coffee shop in the

Rehavia Rehavia or Rechavia ( he, רחביה, ar, رحافيا) is an upscale Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰερ ...

neighborhood of

at the corner of Gaza Street and Ben-Maimon Street, situated about 100 meters from the residence of the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

. At the time, this was one of Jerusalem's most popular centers of recreation. Immediately after entering the building, the suicide bomber

detonate Detonation () is a type of combustion involving a supersonic exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front propagating directly in front of it. Detonations propagate supersonically through shock waves with ...

d the powerful explosive device hidden underneath his clothes. The force of the blast completely destroyed the shop, instantly killed 11 Israeli civilians and injured 54 people, 10 of them severely.

Perpetrators

Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades ( ar, كتائب الشهيد عز الدين القسام, , Battalions of martyr Izz ad-Din al-Qassam; also spelt Izzedine or Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades; often shortened to Al-Qassam Brigades, IQB

, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamist political organization

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...

, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Investigation

On August 17, 2002, the Israeli security forces arrested the Hamas

cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery w ...

members who carried out the attack. The militants were residents of East Jerusalem. Due to their status as

permanent resident Permanent residency is a person's legal resident status in a country or territory of which such person is not a citizen but where they have the right to reside on a permanent basis. This is usually for a permanent period; a person with suc ...

s in Israel, they carried Israeli blue identity cards, which allowed them to work in Israel and to easily travel in Israel without being suspected. While the Israeli security forces investigated the incident they found out that the cell members, who were referred to in the media as "The Silwan cell", were responsible for a series of attacks against Israeli civilians, including the attack at Café Moment, which in total killed 35 Israeli civilians and injured 200 others.ישבו, יצאו, רצחו, ישבו, ייצאו – וירצחו – ביטחון – חדשות – ערוץ 7
/ref> According to the Israeli security forces the cell operated in accordance with the instructions they received from the Hamas headquarters in Ramallah, which instructed them to locate a crowded public space to carry out a mass-casualty suicide attack. In October 2011, the Silwan cell members were all released from prison as part of the

Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange The Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange (; ), also known as "Wafa al-Ahrar" (''"Faithful to the free"''), followed a 2011 agreement between Israel and Hamas to release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for 1,027 prisoners — almost all Palest ...

Lawsuit

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

was filed against the

Arab Bank Arab Bank is one of the largest financial institutions in the Middle East, founded in 1930 in Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine, as the first private sector financial institution in the Arab world. Headquartered today in Amman, Jordan, it serv ...

for financing the attack.

Aftermath

The attack took place during March 2002, in which Israel suffered the highest fatalities rate of the

– 111

Israeli soldier The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branch ...

s and civilians were killed during that month in over a dozen militant attacks carried out throughout the country. These attacks peaked on March 27, 2002, with the

Passover massacre The Passover massacre was a suicide bombing carried out by Hamas at the Park Hotel in Netanya, Israel on 27 March 2002, during a Passover seder. Thirty civilians were killed in the attack and 140 were injured. It was the deadliest attack agai ...

, which led to the

Israeli government The Cabinet of Israel (officially: he, ממשלת ישראל ''Memshelet Yisrael'') exercises executive authority in the State of Israel. It consists of ministers who are chosen and led by the prime minister. The composition of the governm ...

's decision to launch a major military campaign aimed at the Palestinian militancy infrastructure in the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

References

External links

Suicide bombing at Cafe Moment in Jerusalem, March 9, 2002
– published at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Ari Shavit,

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issue ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cafe Moment bombing 2002 murders in Israel 21st-century mass murder in Israel Attacks on buildings and structures in 2002 Attacks on buildings and structures in Jerusalem Attacks on restaurants in Asia Building bombings in Israel Hamas suicide bombings Islamic terrorist incidents in 2002 March 2002 crimes March 2002 events in Asia Mass murder in 2002 Murder in Jerusalem Suicide bombings in 2002 Terrorist incidents in Israel in 2002 Terrorist incidents in Jerusalem in the 2000s 2000s in Jerusalem