| Café Moment bombing | |
|---|---|
| Part of theSecond Intifada militancy campaign | |
 | |
  The attack site | |
| Location | 31°46′29″N35°13′3″E / 31.77472°N 35.21750°E /31.77472; 35.21750 Jerusalem |
| Date | March 9, 2002; 23 years ago (2002-03-09) 10:33 pm (GMT+2) |
Attack type | Suicide bombing |
| Weapons | Explosive belt |
| Deaths | 11 Israeli civilians (+1 bomber) |
| Injured | 54 Israeli civilians |
| Perpetrator | Hamas claimed responsibility |
TheCafé Moment bombing was aPalestinian suicide bombing of acoffee shop in downtownJerusalem, that killed 11Israeli civilians and left 65 others wounded.[1] It was carried out on March 9, 2002, during theSecond Intifada.
On March 9, 2002, shortly before 22:30, aPalestiniansuicide bomber entered the "Café Moment" coffee shop in theRehavia neighborhood ofJerusalem at the corner ofGaza Street and Ben-Maimon Street, situated about 100 meters from the residence of thePrime Minister. At the time, this was one of Jerusalem's most popular centers of recreation. Immediately after entering the building, the suicide bomberdetonated the powerfulexplosive device hidden underneath his clothes. The force of the blast completely destroyed the shop, instantly killed 11 Israeli civilians and injured 65 people, 10 of them severely.[2][3]
Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.[4]
On August 17, 2002, theIsraeli security forces arrested the Hamascell members who carried out the attack. The militants were residents ofEast Jerusalem. Due to their status aspermanent residents in Israel, they carriedIsraeli 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.[5] According to the Israeli security forces the cell operated in accordance with the instructions they received from the Hamas headquarters inRamallah, which instructed them to locate a crowded public space to carry out a mass-casualty suicide attack.[citation needed]
In October 2011, the Silwan cell members were all released from prison as part of theGilad Shalit prisoner exchange.[5]
Alawsuit was filed against theArab Bank for financing the attack.[6]
The attack took place during March 2002, in which Israel suffered the highest fatalities rate of theSecond Intifada – 111Israeli soldiers 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 thePassover massacre, which led to theIsraeli government's decision to launch amajor military campaign aimed at the Palestinian militancy infrastructure in theWest Bank.
