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{{Infobox terrorist attack
|title=Erez Crossing bombing
|image=
| partof=the [[Second Intifada]] militancy campaign
|map=<div style="width:250px; float:none; clear:none;"><div style="position:relative; padding:0; width:250px;">[[File:Israel outline northwest negev.png|250px]]
<br /><div style="position: absolute; z-index: 2; top: 12.4%; left: 64.6%; height: 0; width: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"><div style="position: relative; text-align: center; left: -4px; top: -4px; width: 8px; font-size: 8px; z-index:100;">[[File:Red pog.svg|7px]]</div><div style="font-size:90%; line-height: 110%; z-index:90; position: relative; top: -1.5em; width: 6em; left: 0.5em; text-align: left;"><span style="padding: 1px;">The attack site</span></div></div></div></div>
|caption=
|location=[[Erez Crossing]], [[Southern District (Israel)|Southern District]], [[Israel]]
|target=
|date=January 14, 2004
|time-begin=
|time-end=
|timezone=
|type=[[suicide bombing]]
|fatalities=4 soldiers and security personnel (+ 1 bomber)
|injuries=10
|perps=[[Hamas]] and the [[Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades]] claimed responsibility
}}
[[File:ErezCrossing.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Erez Crossing]], 2005]]
The '''Erez Crossing bombing''' was a [[suicide bombing]] which occurred on January 14, 2004 at the pedestrian/[[cargo terminal]] [[Erez Crossing]] located on the [[Israeli Gaza Strip barrier]]. Four Israelis were killed in the attack. 10 people, including four Palestinians, were injured in the attack.<ref name=autogenerated2 />

[[Hamas]] and the [[Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades]] claimed joint responsibility for the attack.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/15/1073877935105.html|title=Martyr mother orphans toddlers|date=15 January 2004|access-date=14 December 2014}}</ref>

==The attack==
On Wednesday, 14 January 2004, around 9:30 am, a female Palestinian suicide bomber, approached the pedestrian/[[cargo terminal]] [[Erez Crossing]] (the main crossing point between Israel and the Gaza Strip where Israeli security forces tend to perform routine security checks to the Palestinian workers before they are allowed to enter Israel).<ref>[http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/IsraelUnderAttack/Erez+Crossing1/Erez+Crossing.htm Erez Crossing]</ref>

The suicide bomber was faking a [[limp]] and she told the security guards at the site that she had a metal plate in her leg which would most likely trigger the alarm. As a result, a female soldier was sent to check her. As the suicide bomber was waiting for the arrival of the female soldier, she managed to infiltrate into the inspection hall, and detonated the hidden explosive device which was concealed on her body.<ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/01/14/israel.blast/|title=CNN.com - Female suicide bomber kills at least 4 Israelis - Jan. 14, 2004|website=[[CNN]]|access-date=14 December 2014}}</ref>

Three soldiers and one civilian employee of the Erez crossing were killed in the attack.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3395177.stm|title=BBC NEWS - Middle East - Gaza attack kills four Israelis|date=14 January 2004|access-date=14 December 2014}}</ref> 10 people, including four Palestinians, were injured in the attack.<ref name=autogenerated2 />

== The perpetrators ==
[[Hamas]] and the [[Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades]] claimed joint responsibility for the attack. [[Hamas]] spokesman stated that the suicide bomber was a 22-year-old Palestinian mother of two named [[Reem Riyashi|Reem al-Reyashi]] who originated from [[Gaza City|Gaza]].

In addition, after the attack a video of the suicide bomber, which was filmed before the attack, was published in which al-Reyashi was wearing combat fatigues and holding an automatic rifle with a rocket-propelled grenade in the foreground. In the video al-Riyashi said that since age 13 she had dreamed of turning "my body into deadly shrapnel against the [[Zionism|Zionists]]".<ref name=autogenerated1>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article995574.ece 'It was my wish to turn my body into deadly shrapnel against the Zionists']</ref>

She continued: "I always wanted to be the first woman to carry out a [[martyrdom]] operation, where parts of my body can fly all over ... God has given me two children. I love them [with] a kind of love that only God knows, but my love to meet God is stronger still."<ref name=autogenerated1 />

Hamas founder Sheikh [[Ahmed Yassin]] stated in an interview with the [[Reuters]] news agency that "The fact that a woman took part for the first time in a Hamas operation marks a significant evolution".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/hamas-leader-jihad-is-an-imperative-for-women-too-1.110997|title=Hamas leader:Jihad is an imperative for women too|date=15 January 2004|work=Haaretz.com|access-date=14 December 2014}}</ref>

In a Netflix documentary about the attack, ''The Israeli Honey Trap'', it was revealed that al-Reyashi had been targeted for death after it was revealed she had an affair with a senior Hamas commander, who was later eliminated in a targeted killing by Israel, as was Sheik Ahmed Yassin who gave approval for the attack. Yassin gave approval for her to die a martyr to atone for her sin of adultery. It is common in Islamic culture for women to be killed and men not held responsible for adulterous relationships.

== See also ==
* [[Reem Riyashi]]
* [[Female suicide bomber]]
* [[Wafa al Bass]] 2005 Erez crossing suicide bomber
* [[List of terrorist incidents, 2004]]

==External links==
* [http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/01/14/israel.blast/ Female suicide bomber kills at least 4 Israelis] - published on [[CNN]] on January 14, 2004
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3395177.stm Gaza attack kills four Israelis] - published on [[BBC News]] on January 14, 2004
* [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/15/1073877930897.html Female suicide bomber kills four] - published on [[The Age]] on January 15, 2004
* [http://www.iol.co.za/news/world/i-always-wanted-to-be-first-woman-martyr-1.120979 'I always wanted to be first woman martyr'] - published on [[Independent Online]] on January 15, 2004
* [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1451628/Woman-bomber-kills-four-in-Israel.html Woman bomber kills four in Israel] - published on [[The Daily Telegraph]] on January 14, 2004

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
{{Terrorist attacks against Israelis in the 2000s}}
{{Palestinian militancy attacks in the 2000s}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Erez Crossing bombing}}

{{#seo:
|keywords=Hamas suicide bombings, Mass murder in 2004, Terrorist incidents in Israel in 2004, January 2004 crimes, January 2004 events in Asia, Islamic terrorism in Israel
|description=
}}

[[Category:Hamas suicide bombings]]
[[Category:Mass murder in 2004]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in Israel in 2004]]
[[Category:January 2004 crimes]]
[[Category:January 2004 events in Asia]]
[[Category:Islamic terrorism in Israel]]

2004 Erez Crossing bombing - Revision history

MetaBOT at 16:33, 8 July 2023