Geha Interchange Bus Stop Bombing

The bombing occurred during the Second Intifada. The year 2003 saw 3,838 terrorist attacks perpetrated against Israeli targets, killing 213 Israelis — 50 members of the security forces and 163 civilians.[1] This represented an approximately 30 percent decline in attacks and a more than 50 percent decline in fatalities compared with 2002, although violence and suicide bombings remained frequent.[1]

The attack was organized by the PFLP infrastructure in Nablus.[2] The PFLP publicly claimed responsibility and said the bombing was retaliation for Israeli military operations in Nablus that had begun on December 23, 2003.[3]

On December 25, 2003, Sa'id (Tha'ir) Kamal Jamil Hanani, an 18-year-old resident of Beit Furik, detonated explosives at the bus stop at the Geha Interchange. Hanani was a PFLP operative who worked in construction. The explosion killed four people and wounded more than 20 others.[4][2]

Munthir Sanawbar accompanied Hanani to the attack site. During interrogation after his arrest, Sanawbar said the two arrived in a taxi driven by an Israeli who regularly transported residents from the Palestinian Authority-administered territories, including passengers he knew lacked entry permits.[2]

Four Israelis were killed: Adva Tsippora Fisher, 19, of Kfar Saba; Staff Sergeant Noam Leibowitz, 22, of Elkana; Corporal Angelina Shcherov, 19, of Kfar Saba; and Corporal Rotem Weinberger, 19, of Kfar Saba. Fisher was survived by her parents and two brothers.[2]

Sanawbar was arrested after the bombing.[2] Nader Sadaqa, a commander of the PFLP's Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, was indicted in 2004 for involvement in the Geha Junction bombing and two other attacks. The three attacks together killed four civilians and four soldiers and wounded 34 people.[5]

Israel Hayom reported that Supreme Court documentation identified Yamen Taieb Ali Faraj as an accomplice in dispatching the bomber.[6] A later Times of Israel report described Faraj as a PFLP commander and said he was killed in July 2004 by a missile fired from an Israeli military helicopter while fleeing arrest near Nablus.[7]

Sources differ on several details. A detailed Israeli government document and the Jewish Virtual Library record four deaths and more than 20 wounded.[4][2] A separate Israeli government overview and a Foundation for Defense of Democracies account report three deaths.[8][9] A Palestinian Media Watch account reports four deaths and 24 wounded, but dates the attack to December 26, 2003.[10] The four-fatality figure is also supported by the government document that names all four victims and by the State Department chronology.[3][2]

Most cited accounts attribute the attack to the PFLP, including the State Department chronology and the Jewish Virtual Library.[3][4] One Palestinian Media Watch article described Wajdi Joudeh as a senior DFLP member involved in the bombing, while another Palestinian Media Watch page described Nader Sadaqa as a former head of the PFLP's armed wing and linked him to the same attack.[10][11] The latter page does not attribute the bombing to the DFLP. Most accounts date the attack to December 25, 2003; the Joudeh account gives December 26.[10]