| Maxim restaurant suicide bombing | |
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| Part of the Second Intifada militancy campaign | |
Maxim restaurant, 2009 |
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The attack site
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| Location | Haifa, Israel |
| Date | October 4, 2003 |
| Attack type | suicide bombing |
| Deaths | 21 civilians (and 1 bomber) |
| Injured | 51 |
| Perpetrator(s) | 1 Palestinian terrorist (Hanadi Jaradat). Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. |
The Maxim restaurant suicide bombing was a suicide bombing which occurred on October 4, 2003 in the beachfront "Maxim" restaurant in Haifa, Israel. 21 people were killed in the attack and 51 were injured. Among the victims were two families and four children, including a two-month-old baby.
The restaurant, which is located at the seafront near the southern boundary of the city of Haifa, was frequently attended by both Arab and Jewish local populations, and was widely seen as a symbol of peaceful coexistence in Haifa.
Militant organization Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. It was condemned by Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. The restaurant's interior was completely destroyed by the blast (it was completely rebuilt seven months after the attack).
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The Maxim restaurant is a beachfront restaurant located near the south entry to Haifa. It is co-owned by Jews and Christian Arabs, and is known for being a symbol of co-existence. The restaurant is also the favorite dining place of the famous Israeli football club Maccabi Haifa.
On October 4, 2003, the 28-year-old Palestinian suicide bomber Hanadi Jaradat detonated the explosive belt she was wearing inside the Arab-Jewish Maxim restaurant in Haifa. 21 Israelis, Jews and Arabs were killed, and 51 others were wounded.[2] The bomb included metal fragments packed around the explosive core, that sprayed around the restaurant, maximizing lethal effect.[3] According to Haifa police sources, the aftermath was gruesome, with some of the dead still sitting upright at their tables, while others, including children and babies, were slammed against the walls. Due to the force of the explosion, all that remained of Jaradat was her head.[3]
Among the victims were two families and four children, including a two-month-old baby. Three Maccabi Haifa officials were lightly injured in the bombing.
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Five members of the Almog family:
Five members of the Zer-Aviv family: |
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The suicide bomber, 28-year-old Hanadi Jaradat from Jenin, (Arabic: هنادي تيسير عبدالمالك جردات) was the sixth female suicide bomber of the Al-Aqsa Intifada and the second woman recruited by Islamic Jihad.[26]
When she was 21, her fiance had been killed by Israeli security forces.[27] At the time of her suicide bombing, Jaradat was a law student due to qualify as a lawyer in a few weeks. According to a story in Ha'aretz, based on Arab media and interviews with Israeli and Arab sources, she agreed to the bombing after Israel Defense Forces undercover operatives in Jenin killed her cousin (Salah, 34), who was wanted by Israel, and her younger brother (Fadi, 25), who was not, in their home, before her eyes, the evening before her brother's wedding. Both her cousin and younger brother were accused by Israeli forces of being Islamic Jihad operatives, with her cousin being considered to be a senior member of the Al-Quds Brigades group.[28]
In response to his daughter's actions, her father Taisir declined all condolences, instead saying that he was proud of what his daughter had done, and that "I will accept only congratulations for what she did. This was a gift she gave me, the homeland and the Palestinian people."[29]
The day following the suicide bombing, the Israeli Army demolished the home of Jaradat's family, and the homes of two neighbors who were uninvolved in the bombing.[30] In response to the attack, which Israel claimed was planned in the Damascus headquarters of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an alleged terrorist training camp in Ain es-Saheb, Syria, was bombed by four Israeli Air Force jets. One person was injured, and munitions were allegedly destroyed during the strike.
Jamal Mahadjne, an Israeli-Arab from Umm al-Fahm, was arrested within hours of the attack for driving Jaradat to her destination. Mahadjne had regularly taken fees for illegally driving Palestinians to Israel, taking advantage of his Israeli identity card to cross the border without difficulty. He confessed his actions to Shin Bet agents, and was indicted before the Haifa District Court for being an accessory to murder and for other crimes relating to his illegal activities on November 10.[31]
On November 7, Israel Defense Forces troops arrested senior Islamic Jihad militant Amjad Abeidi, who planned the attack, along with a number of other suicide bombings, during an operation in Jenin. During the operation, Jenin was placed under curfew as soldiers searched homes. One Palestinian teenager was shot dead while climbing a tank, and three Palestinians were wounded. The complex in which Abeidi was hiding was located and searched, and a weapons cache was found. After a grenade was thrown into the cache, Abeidi was lightly wounded and surrendered. As the soldiers left Jenin with Abeidi, Palestinian militants opened fire at them, and the soldiers returned fire. One militant, a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, was killed. Abeidi was handed over to Shin Bet for interrogation.[32]
Israel: Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon stated that Israel holds Yasser Arafat responsible for the attack.[33]
Palestinian territories: Palestinian President Yasser Arafat condemned the suicide bombing[34]
Although the interior of the restaurant was completely destroyed in the attack, it was quickly rebuilt and reopened within several months.
A monument was erected near the restaurant in memory of the victims killed in the attack.
| Participants | Individuals | Violence | Diplomacy |
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Main: Other:
Influence: |
Israelis:
Palestinians: |
1920 Palestine riots |
Hussein-McMahon Correspondence
Israel, Palestine, and the United Nations |