Attack on the Israeli embassy in London | |
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The attack site
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Location | London, United Kingdom |
Date | July 26, 1994 |
Target | Israeli embassy |
Attack type | car bomb |
Injured | 20 |
Suspected perpetrator(s) | pro-Iranian extremists, allegedly linked to Hezbollah |
The Attack on the embassy of Israel in London was an attack on the Israeli embassy building in London on July 26, 1994, that injured 20 civilians.
On 26 July 1994, eight days after the AMIA bombing in Argentina, a car bomb exploded outside the Israeli embassy in London, injuring 20 people. The car was packed with 20 to 30 pounds of explosives, and blew up minutes after the driver left it.
The Israeli Ambassador and British intelligence experts blamed pro-Iranian extremists, allegedly linked to Hezbollah. Thirteen hours later a similar car bomb exploded outside Balfour House, the headquarters in London of the main Zionist organisations, injuring six.
Five Palestinians were arrested in London in January 1995 in connection with both bombings. In December 1996, two of them, both Palestinian science graduates who were educated in the UK, Jawad Botmeh and Samar Alami, were found guilty of "conspiracy to cause explosions" at the Old Bailey. They were sentenced to 20 years in jail, and lost their appeal in 2001. Nobody has been convicted for the actual bombings.
Botmeh was released from prison on 5 August 2008.