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{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2012}}
{{Infobox terrorist attack
|title=Beersheba bus bombings
|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: 82%; left: 91.6%; 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; right: 6.5em; text-align: center;"><span style="padding: 1px;">'''The attack site'''</span></div></div></div></div>
|caption=
|location=[[Beersheba]]
|target= 
|date=August 31, 2004<br>Shortly before 3:00 pm
|time-begin=
|time-end=
|timezone=
|type=[[suicide bombing]]
|fatalities=16 Israeli civilians (+ 2 suicide bombers)
|injuries=100+ Israeli civilians
|perps= 2 Palestinian assailants (Nassem Jabari and Ahmad Qawasme). [[Hamas]] claimed responsibility
}}
The '''Beersheba bus bombings''' were two [[suicide bombings]] carried out nearly simultaneously aboard commuter buses in [[Beersheba]], [[Israel]], on August 31, 2004. 16 people were killed<ref>[http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/08/31/mideast/ 16 killed in suicide bombings on buses in Israel] – [[CNN]], September 1, 2004</ref> and more than 100 were injured. [[Hamas]] claimed responsibility for the attacks.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/01/world/middleeast/twin-blasts-kill-16-in-israel-hamas-claims-responsibility.html "Twin Blasts Kill 16 in Israel; Hamas Claims Responsibility"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', September 1, 2004</ref>

== Background ==

The previous major attack on Be'er sheva was the 19 October 1998 grenade attack on the Central bus station, where 64<ref name="globes">{{Cite news|url=http://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=69085|title=64 פצועים, מהם שניים קשה ושלושה בינוני, בפיגוע בתחנה המרכזית בבאר שבע|newspaper=Globes|date=October 20, 1998|last1=גולן|first1=מאת גדי}}</ref> people were wounded when a Palestinian from Hebron<ref>מבט, 19.10.1998 מהדורת חדשות{{full citation needed|date=September 2018}}</ref> threw two grenades at the bus station.

During the [[Second Intifada]] in the early 2000s (decade), at the time which was characterized by an [[List of Palestinian suicide attacks|intensified period of suicide attacks were carried out in Israel]] by the Palestinian militant organizations in Israel, Be'er Sheva was considered a relatively safe place, as it did not experience any terror attacks.

In 2004, the year in which the attack was carried out, the second intifada was declining, and then the tensions escalated in March 2004, with the assassination of the leader of [[Hamas]] [[Ahmed Yassin]]. A month later, in April, Yassin's successor [[Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi]] was assassinated. After those two assassinations Israel had the quietest four months since the outbreak of the Second Intifada, which came to an end when the Beersheba bus bombings were carried out.

==The attacks==
At time of the attacks, the "[[Metrodan Beersheba]]" [[public bus]]es (lines 6 and 12) were packed with Israeli civilians and were traveling along the main street of Beersheba, Rager Boulevard, near the City hall, at a very crowded place.<ref>American Jewish Year, Book 2005. David Singer, Lawrence Grossman. p. 243</ref> At 14:50 pm, the first bomber blew up the explosive device hidden underneath his clothes on bus No. 6 as the bus passed a busy intersection in the center of town. Two minutes later, the second bomber blew himself up while on board bus No. 12 which was located about 100 meters away from the first bus. The force of the explosion, which blew away and mutilated the limbs of many civilians, made it difficult for the authorities to identify the victims. The youngest victim was a 3½ year old boy killed while sitting on his mother's lap.

== The perpetrators ==
After the attacks the [[Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades]], the military wing of [[Hamas]], claimed responsibility for the attacks. A video tape released after the attack by Hamas showed the two suicide bombers, '''Nassem Jabari''' (22) and '''Ahmad Qawasameh''' (26), posing with rifles and posters.<ref name="reuters"/> Hamas distributed leaflets in [[Hebron]] which stated that the attack was in revenge for the assassination of Hamas leaders [[Ahmed Yassin]] and [[Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi]] by Israel.<ref>The new Iranian leadership: Ahmadinejad, terrorism, nuclear ambition, and the Middle East. Yonah Alexander, Milton M. Hoenig. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-275-99639-0}}</ref> The Israeli government accused [[Syria]]<ref>The Israeli-Palestinian war: escalating to nowhere. By Anthony H. Cordesman, Jennifer Moravitz. p. 240</ref><ref>Country Reports on Terrorism 2004. By State Department, Office of the Coordinator for Conterterrorism. p. 90</ref> and "terror command posts in Damascus" of involvement in the attack.<ref name="Plaw">Targeting terrorists: a license to kill? By Avery Plaw. p. 79</ref>

==Reactions==
Following the bombing, an estimated 20,000 Hamas supporters in Gaza took to the streets to celebrate.<ref name="reuters">[http://www.haaretz.com/news/palestinians-celebrate-deadly-israeli-bus-bombings-1.133300 Palestinians celebrate deadly Israeli bus bombings]. Reuters.</ref>

The Israeli Foreign Minister [[Silvan Shalom]] placed the blame on [[Yasser Arafat]] for not preventing the attacks, and for bringing nothing but "terror and evil" since his return to the [[Palestinian territories]].<ref name="mfa">[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2004/8/Double+bombing+in+Beersheba+31-Aug-2004.htm Double bombing of buses in Beersheba]. Press Release. Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.August 31, 2004</ref>

==Aftermath==
The lethal attack was a shock to the Israeli public, especially due to the fact that the two Palestinian suicide bombers managed to get from [[Hebron]] to Beersheba after simply walking across the [[Green Line (Israel)|Green Line]] [[demarcation line]]s without difficulty. For this reason, after the attack many Israeli public officials, including Police Commissioner [[Moshe Karadi]] made emphasized that a hermetic separation barrier between Israel and the [[West Bank]] was vital to Israel's security. The southern part of the [[Israeli West Bank barrier]] was completed only after the attack.<ref>[http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-09/01/content_370646.htm "Two bus blasts in southern Israel kill 16"], ''[[China Daily]]'', September 1, 2004</ref>

On September 26, 2004, [[Izz El-Deen Sheikh Khalil]], a senior member of [[Hamas]]' military wing, was killed in a car bombing in the al-Zahera district of southern [[Damascus]], [[Syria]]. The killing was blamed on Israeli agents. Officially, the Israeli government refused to claim responsibility, but unnamed Israeli sources unofficially acknowledged that Israel had assassinated Khalil as a response to the Beersheba bus bombings.<ref name="Plaw"/>

==See also==
*[[Beersheva bus station shooting]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/01/international/middleeast/01mideast.html?pagewanted=2 Twin Blasts Kill 16 in Israel; Hamas Claims Responsibility] – published on [[The New York Times]] on September 1, 2004
* [http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/08/31/mideast/ 16 killed in suicide bombings on buses in Israel] – published on [[CNN]] on September 1, 2004
* [https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-08-31-israel-blast_x.htm Suicide terrorists blow up buses in southern Israel] – published on [[USA Today]] on August 31, 2004
* [http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/16-die-in-be-er-sheva-bombings-1.133341 16 die in Be'er Sheva bombings] – published on [[Haaretz]] on September 1, 2004
* [http://www.haaretz.com/news/be-er-sheva-bus-bombers-were-part-of-hamas-cell-in-hebron-1.133345 Be'er Sheva bus bombers were part of Hamas cell in Hebron] – published on [[Haaretz]] on September 1, 2004
* [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2004/8/Double+bombing+in+Beersheba+31-Aug-2004.htm Double bombing of buses in Beersheba] – published on August 31, 2004 on the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)|Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] website

{{Terrorist attacks against Israelis in the 2000s}}
{{Palestinian militancy attacks in the 2000s}}

{{coord missing|Israel}}

[[Category:Mass murder in 2004]]
[[Category:Suicide bombings in 2004]]
[[Category:Hamas suicide bombings of buses]]
[[Category:Israeli casualties in the Second Intifada]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in Israel in 2004]]
[[Category:August 2004 events in Asia]]
[[Category:Islamic terrorism in Israel]]

Beersheba bus bombings - Revision history

CleanupBot at 04:29, 29 January 2022