Café Apropo bombing
| Café Apropo bombing | |
|---|---|
 The attack site 
The attack site | |
| Location | Tel Aviv, Jerusalem |
| Coordinates | 32°05′01.31″N 34°46′33.49″E / 32.0836972°N 34.7759694°E |
| Date |
21 March 1997 approximately 13:40 pm (GMT+2) |
| Attack type | suicide bombings |
| Deaths | 3 civilians (+ 1 bomber) |
| Injured (non-fatal) | 48 |
| Perpetrators | Hamas claimed responsibility |
The Café Apropo bombing was a Palestinian suicide bombing which occurred on 21 March 1997 in a coffee shop in Tel Aviv. 3 women were killed in the attack and 48 were injured.
The attack
The attack occurred on 21 March 1997, on the eve of the Purim holiday, at around 13:40, when a Palestinian suicide bomber detonated an explosive device which was concealed in a handbag in the entrance to the coffee shop "Apropo" in Tel Aviv. The force of the explosion killed three young women in their early 30s, one of them was three months pregnant.[1]
Fatalities
The following people died in the attack:[2]
Aftermath
The attack remembered amongst the Israeli public, in part, due to a picture taken of a six months old infant girl in a clown costume whom survived the attack because she was saved by her mother whom protected her with her body from the force of the blast.
Following the attack, the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate found for the first time clear evidence which proved that the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was encouraging and initiating militant attacks on Israeli civilians within Israel in order to advance the negotiations with Israel.[6]
Eight years after the attack, in October 2005, Israel captured the Palestinian militant Ibrahim Animat, the leader of Hamas's "Surif squad", which was responsible for the 1997 Café Apropo bombing attack, as well as other attacks against Israeli targets.[7]
A monument has been placed near the site of the attack which was created by the artist Eliezer Weishoff. The monument depicts three roses which were cut off.[8]
References
- ↑ Perry, Dan (22 March 1997). "Tel Aviv suicide bombing kills four". Times Daily (Tel Aviv). AP. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
- ↑ "Fatal Terrorist Attacks in Israel Since the Declaration of Principles". MFA. 24 September 2000. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
- ↑ Michal Avrahami (Hebrew)
- ↑ Yael Gilad (Hebrew)
- ↑ Anat Winter-Rosen (Hebrew)
- ↑ Immanuel, Jon (21 March 1997). "Ya'alon: Arafat okayed terror Army chiefs warn of future attacks". Jerusalem Post.
- ↑ Weiss, Efrad (10 November 2005). "Senior Hamas fugitive nabbed". YNet. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
- ↑ Weishoff, Eliezer. "Apropo Cafe Bombing Memorial". Israel Public Art. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||