2002 Tel Aviv Neveh Sha'anan Double Suicide Bombing

The bombing occurred during the violent Palestinian-Israeli confrontation that began at the end of September 2000. A later Israeli government study recorded 147 suicide bombing attacks through December 2005 and stated that the largest number occurred during the first four months of 2002.[1] The cell identified as responsible for the July attack operated from Nablus in the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria.[1]

The detailed account places the explosions on the Neveh Sha'anan pedestrian mall. A separate Israeli government chronology describes the location as Neve Shaanan Street near Tel Aviv's old central bus station, while U.S. records describe the attack more generally as occurring near the old bus station.[1][3]

On July 17, 2002, two suicide bombers detonated explosives on the Neveh Sha'anan pedestrian mall approximately one minute apart and about 30 yards from each other.[1] Five people were killed. Accounts place the number of wounded between approximately 33 and 40.[1][3]

The detailed account identified the bombers as Ibrahim Yesser Naji Walwil, an 18-year-old resident of the Balata refugee camp near Nablus, and Muhammad Ismail Hassan Atallah, a 19-year-old resident of the 'Askar refugee camp.[1] It attributed the planning and execution of the attack to a Fatah cell in Nablus headed by Ali 'Ajouri and stated that Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives provided the explosive device.[1]

The bombers traveled from Nablus to Jenin and then to the area of Umm al-Fahm, where they remained for about five hours. Khaled 'Ashur, an Israeli Arab from Jaffa who regularly drove people without entry permits from Palestinian Authority-administered territories into Israel, then drove them to Tel Aviv. During interrogation, 'Ashur said that the men had told him they intended to carry out a suicide bombing, but that he transported them because he feared for his life.[1]

The five fatalities were Li Bin, 33, from China; Xu Hengyong, 39, from China; Adrian Vasili Andres, 30, from Romania; Boris Shamis, 25, from Tel Aviv; and Dmitri Pundikov, 33, from Bat Yam.[1] Thus, three of the five people killed were foreign nationals. Two Chinese citizens and one Romanian were among the dead, and another Romanian was among the wounded.[4][5]

The detailed government account also recorded family information for several victims, including surviving spouses, children, parents, and siblings.[1]

The detailed investigation attributed operational responsibility to the Fatah cell in Nablus headed by Ali 'Ajouri and described Palestinian Islamic Jihad as supplying the explosive device.[1] By contrast, two U.S. State Department chronologies reported that Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombing.[4][5]

On July 17, 2002, President George W. Bush offered condolences to the families of those killed and to the wounded. He condemned the Tel Aviv bombing and another attack in the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria — as acts of terror. Bush added, "Peace cannot be built on a platform of violence against innocents."[2]

Official accounts differ in their descriptions of the attack. The detailed Israeli account identifies the site as the Neveh Sha'anan pedestrian mall and records approximately 33 wounded, while U.S. chronologies place it near the old bus station and report 38 wounded.[1][4] A separate Israeli government chronology calls the location Neve Shaanan Street near the old central bus station and records 40 injured.[3]

The accounts also describe organizational responsibility differently. The detailed Israeli report attributes the attack to a Fatah cell and says Palestinian Islamic Jihad supplied the explosive device, whereas the U.S. chronologies state that Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.[1][5] The sources do not reconcile the differing casualty totals or attribution formulas.