The Gaza Street bus bombing was a suicide bombing on Gaza Street in central Jerusalem on January 29, 2004. A Palestinian bomber detonated an explosive belt on an Egged bus #19 traveling between the two campuses of Hadassah Medical Center. Eleven passengers were killed and over 50 people were wounded, 13 of them seriously.
The attack
On January 29, 2004, shortly before 9:00 AM, a Palestinian suicide bomber detonated himself in the back of an Egged bus at the corner of Gaza and Arlozorov streets in Jerusalem, near the official residence of the Prime Minister of Israel.[1] The blast tore the bus apart, blowing the roof into the air and breaking all the windows. The blast killed 11 people and injured more than 50. Thirteen were in serious condition.
Fatalities
The following people were killed in the attack on Bus 19:[2]
Avraham (Albert) Balhasan, 28, of Jerusalem
Rose Boneh, 39, of Jerusalem
Hava Hannah (Anya) Bonder, 38, of Jerusalem
Anat Darom, 23, of Netanya
Viorel Octavian Florescu, 42, of Jerusalem
Natalia Gamril, 53, of Jerusalem
Yechezkel Isser Goldberg, 41, of Betar Illit
Baruch (Roman) Hondiashvili, 38, of Jerusalem
Dana Itach, 24, of Jerusalem
Mehbere Kifile, 35, of Ethiopia
Eli Zfira, 48, of Jerusalem
The perpetrators
Both the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred less than 24 hours after eight Palestinians were killed in an Israeli army raid on the outskirts of Gaza,[1] naming the bomber as Ali Yusuf Jaara, a 24-year-old Palestinian policeman from Bethlehem.[2]
Aftermath
Originally the wreck of Bus 19 was maintained and stored by ZAKA in Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Connection, Int'l, a Christian Zionist organization [1] was invited by ZAKA to bring the bus to the USA. The wreck of the bus was on display first at the Hague for the International Court of Justice hearing about the Israeli West Bank barrier. The Jerusalem Connection then brought the bus to the USA where, under the cosponsorship of many Jewish and Christian organizations, churches, and synagogues, it was put on display in several cities and at various US universities.[3]
