ThePassover massacre[1] was asuicide bombing carried out byHamas[2] at the Park Hotel inNetanya, Israel on 27 March 2002, during aPassover seder. 30 civilians were killed in the attack and 140 were injured. It was the deadliest attack against Israeli civilians during theSecond Intifada,[3] and one of the most severe suicide attacks Israel has ever experienced.[4]
The attack
On the evening of 27 March 2002, the eve of the Jewish holiday ofPassover and during the traditionalseder meal,[5][4] a Palestinian bomber, Abdel-Basset Odeh, approached the Park Hotel in the Israeli coastal city ofNetanya disguised as a woman after shaving his mustache and beard and using a wig and makeup.[4] Carrying a suitcase with a ten-kilogram bomb,[4] Odeh entered the hotel's dining room, where approximately 250 civilians were celebrating the seder.[6]
Park Hotel in Netanya. Photo taken in 2012
At 19:30 (GMT+2) the bomber detonated the explosive device he was carrying. The force of the explosion instantly killed 28 civilians and wounded 140, of whom 20 were injured severely. Two of the injured later died from their wounds. Some of the victims wereHolocaust survivors.[7][8][9]
Most of the victims were senior citizens (70 and over). The oldest victim was 90 and the youngest was 20 years old. A number of married couples were killed, as well as a father together with his daughter. One of the victims was a Jewish tourist from Sweden who was visiting Israel for Passover.[10]
Seventy-three of the 140 injured in the attack were evacuated toLaniado Hospital in neighboringKiryat Sanz, Netanya. Although established as a regional hospital, Laniado had established atrauma center and emergency protocol in the wake ofsuicide bombings andterrorist attacks in the Netanya area during theSecond Intifada. In addition to medical teams, the hospital benefited from the volunteerism ofHasidim living in Kiryat Sanz, who donated blood, carried stretchers, and otherwise assisted the medical staff.[11]
According to the indictment filed in the Tel Aviv court, the initial plot for the Passover massacre included the use ofcyanide;[12] 4 kg ofcyanide had been bought and prepared for a chemical attack.[13] Tarak Zidan[dubious –discuss] had been recruited toHamas, and during 1997 he researched the use ofchlorine and othernerve agents to be used in terror attacks. In 2002, 4 kg of chlorine had been bought and packed for the attack. For unknown reasons it was not used and passed toAbbas al-Sayyid [ar] instead.[14]
Hamas response
Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. The bomber was identified as Abd Al-Baset Odeh, a 25-year-old from the nearbyWest Bank city ofTulkarm. Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan said that "This is a trial (attempt) to send a letter, to send a message, to all the world that we are trying to fight for our own freedom against a terrorist government in Israel led by Sharon" and that Israelis "have to expect those attacks from everywhere, from every Palestinian group."[15] Another Hamas spokespersonAbdel Aziz Rantisi said "[a]s long as there is occupation, there will be a resistance" and denied that the attack was timed to coincide with thepeace initiative of theSaudi government at theBeirut Summit, an initiative rejected by Hamas.[16]
Official reactions
Israeli government spokesmanGideon Meir related to the attack saying "what we had tonight was a Passover massacre" and added "There is no limit to Palestinian barbarism."[17] Palestinian Authority officials "strongly condemned" the attack.[18] Palestinian PresidentYasser Arafat personally ordered the arrests of militants associated with Hamas,Islamic Jihad, and theAl Aqsa Martyrs Brigades as a response.[19] During a television broadcast on the Palestinian TV channel, Arafat praised the Palestinian people for the currentpopular uprising against Israel, but stressed that "We are against killing civilians on both sides".[20]
Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah condemned it,[21] while also commenting that "I will add to this by saying to the Israeli people that if their government stopped its methods of violence and destruction, and agreed to real peace, we will not hesitate in accepting that Israel live in peace with the rest of the nations in the region."[22]Kofi Annan,United Nations Secretary General stated that he condemned suicide bombings against Israeli civilians as morally repugnant.[23] President of the United StatesGeorge W. Bush condemned the attack and called onYasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority to do everything in their power to stop the terrorist killing.[24]
US Secretary of StateColin Powell stated that the bombing set the peace process back but vowed to continue.[15]
Aftermath
Diplomacy
In his response to theArab Peace Initiative adopted at theArab League's summit in Beirut,Foreign Affairs Minister of IsraelShimon Peres noted that "... the details of every peace plan must be discussed directly between Israel and the Palestinians, and to make this possible, the Palestinian Authority must put an end to terror, the horrifying expression of which we witnessed just last night in Netanya."[25]
The attack was perceived in Israel as the high point of a bloody month in which more than 135 Israelis, mostly civilians, were killed in terror attacks.[26][27][28]
Following the Passover massacre attack the Israeli government declared a state of emergency, ordered the immediate recruitment of 20,000 reservists in an emergency call-up, and in the following day launched the large-scalecounter-terrorism operationOperation Defensive Shield in theWest Bank which took place between 29 March and 10 May.[29]
Qeis Adwan, head of the suicide bombing network responsible for themassacre,[30] was killed by IDF forces on 5 April 2002[31] during Operation Defensive Shield, after the IDF and theYamam caught him inTubas, some 70 kilometers north ofJerusalem. An armoredIDF Caterpillar D9 bulldozer toppled the house where he was hiding, after he was given a chance to surrender and refused.[32]
Arrests and killings of perpetrators
One of the two chief planners of the attack, Qais Adwan, a Hamas member who was involved in numerous attacks in which a total of 77 people were killed, was killed in a shootout with the IDF during Operation Defensive Shield.[33] In May 2002, Israeli forces arrested the other chief planner,Abbas al-Sayyid [ar]. On 22 September 2005, al-Sayed was convicted of the Passover attack and also of ordering the May 2001 bombing of aNetanya mall. He received 35 life sentences for each murder victim and additional time for those who were wounded.
Fathi Khatib, who transported the bomber to his target, Mohand Sharim, who financed the operation and helped hide the bomber, Muammar Abu Sheikh, who recruited the bomber to Hamas and transferred the explosive belts used in the attack to an explosives expert for examination, and Nasser Yatiya, who helped transport the explosive belts, were tried and convicted together in an Israeli military court in April 2003 and handed 29 life sentences.[34] Nasser Yatiya was released in theGilad Shalit prisoner exchange in 2011. Muhammad Taher, who prepared the explosive charges, was killed in a clash with IsraeliShayetet 13 naval commandos in June 2003.
On 26 March 2008 Hamas commander Omar Jabar, suspected of helping organize the attack, was arrested inTulkarem by IDF troops of theNahshon Battalion.[35] In March 2013 he was convicted over his role and sentenced to 30 years in prison.[36]
In September 2009, Muhammad Harwish, a seniorHamas militant and a planner of the Passover Massacre, was arrested by the Border Police's eliteYamamcounter-terror squad in his home village along with an aide, Adnan Samara.[37]
Soccer tournament
In 2003, thePalestinian Authority sponsored a soccer tournament,Tulkarm Shahids Memorial Soccer Championship Tournament of the ShahidAbd Al-Baset Odeh [ar], describing the perpetrator as a "shahid" ("martyr").[38][39][40] 71% of Palestinians polled about the tournament approved of naming it in honor of the bomber.[41]
"This reached a peak following the Passover massacre in the seaside resort of Netanya..." David Newman, "The consequence or the cause? Impact on the Israel-Palestine Peace Process", in Mary E.A. Buckley, Mary Buckley, Rick Fawn.Global Responses to Terrorism: 9/11, the War in Afghanistan, and Beyond, Routledge, 2003;ISBN0-415-31429-1, p. 158.
"They faced stiff resistance from Palestinian gunmen who began preparing the camp's defenses as early as the Passover massacre in Netanya..." Todd C. Helmus, Russell W. Glenn.Steeling the Mind: Combat Stress Reactions and Their Implications for Urban Warfare Rand Corporation, 2005;ISBN0-8330-3702-1, p. 58.
"It can therefore be asked whether the 'human bomb' offensive starting with the Passover massacre on 27 March 2002..." Brigitte L. Nacos, "The Terrorist Calculus Behind 9–11: A Model for Future Terrorism?" inGus Martin.The New Era of Terrorism: Selected Readings, Sage Publications Inc, 2004;ISBN0-7619-8873-4, p. 176.
^Harel, Amos; Isacharoff, Avi (2004).The Seventh War. Tel-Aviv: Yedioth Aharonoth Books and Chemed Books. pp. 274–275.ISBN978-965-511-767-7.
^"Keis Adwan, the hub of the northern Samaria network, had also lost a number of close associates in Israeli security forces operations (Rubin 2002)". Pedahzur, Ami. Perliger, Arie. "The Changing Nature of Suicide Attacks – A Social Network Perspective",Social Forces – Volume 84, Number 4,University of North Carolina Press, June 2006, pp. 1987–2008.
