Liberty Bell Park Bus Bombing

The February 2004 bombing occurred during the sustained campaign of Palestinian terrorist violence that began in late September 2000.[1] During this period, Fatah operatives in Palestinian Authority-administered territories—most of whom worked for Palestinian security services—became involved in terrorist activity and claimed responsibility under the name Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.[5] An Israeli government survey recorded 33 suicide-bombing attacks by Fatah factions, approximately 23 percent of the total it examined. In Jerusalem, Fatah factions and Hamas were each credited with 13 suicide bombings.[1]

The attack followed the January 29, 2004, suicide bombing of a bus on Jerusalem's Gaza Street, which killed 11 people.[6] The U.S. State Department attributed both the January and February bus bombings to Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade.[4] Its review of 2004 also described Palestinian Authority counterterrorism efforts as minimal and its security services as fragmented and ineffective.[4]

On February 22, 2004, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive charge carried in a bag while aboard a Jerusalem bus near Gan HaPaamon, or Liberty Bell Park.[1] The detailed Israeli government chronology calls the vehicle bus No. 14, while the Jewish Virtual Library calls it No. 14A.[1][2] Eight people were killed. Estimates of the wounded range from approximately 60 to 72, with the Congressional Research Service reporting the highest figure.[1][7] Eleven school pupils were among those wounded.[2]

Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for the bombing.[1][2] The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs characterized this attack and the January bombing as the “latest indications of the Palestinian Authority's failure to reform its security forces.”[3] The U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Justice for Victims of Overseas Terrorism also lists February 22, 2004, as the date of a suicide bombing in Jerusalem.[8]

The detailed Israeli government report records the eight people killed as:[1]

• Ilan Israel Avisidris, 38, of Jerusalem
• Yuval Ozana, 31, of Jerusalem
• Benaya Yehonatan Zuckerman, 18, of Jerusalem
• Yehuda Haim, 47, of Givat Ze'ev
• Lior Azulai, 18, of Jerusalem
• Staff Sergeant Netanel Havshush, 20, of Jerusalem
• Yaffa Ben Shimol Matlub, 57, of Jerusalem
• Rahamim (Rami) Doga, 37, of Kastel (Maoz Zion)

Six of the eight victims lived in Jerusalem. Haim lived in Givat Ze'ev, while Doga lived in Kastel, also known as Maoz Zion. Havshush was identified by the report as a staff sergeant.[1]

The detailed Israeli government report identifies the suicide bomber as Muhammad Issa Khalil Zaghal, a 23-year-old resident of Hussan who was married, had one child, and worked in construction in the Jerusalem area.[1] The Jewish Virtual Library instead identifies the attacker as Mohammed Za'ul from the Bethlehem area.[2] The approved records do not resolve whether these are alternate renderings of the same name or conflicting identifications.

Although the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility, the government report cautions that Zaghal was not known as a Fatah operative and had not been involved in organized political activity. It states that he had participated in religious Islamic activity several years earlier but stopped because of family pressure. He had also previously been shot and injured by IDF soldiers during riots in his village at the beginning of the violent confrontation.[1]

Together with the January 29, 2004, Gaza Street bombing, the February 22 attack formed part of a pair of Jerusalem bus bombings that the U.S. State Department recorded as killing 21 people and wounding more than 110.[4] The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs presented the attacks as evidence of the Palestinian Authority's failure to reform its security forces and of disorder within those forces.[3]

A 2018 report documented that Ali Abu Hleil, identified as involved in both the January and February bombings, was honored at a Fatah-sponsored ceremony connected with a tournament. Abu Hleil was serving 21 life sentences for involvement in the two bombings, which killed 19 people and injured more than 100.[6] The February 22 bombing is also listed in U.S. Department of Justice victim-support records and in an Israeli government chronology of suicide terrorist attacks.[8][1]

Sources agree that the bombing occurred in Jerusalem on February 22, 2004, killed eight people, and was claimed by Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. They differ on several details. The Israeli government chronology identifies bus No. 14 near Gan HaPaamon, while the Jewish Virtual Library identifies bus No. 14A near Liberty Bell Park.[1][2] A later JNS report describes the site as Emek Refaim Street.[6]

The government chronology reports approximately 60 wounded, while the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs reports more than 65.[1][3] The Congressional Research Service records 72 wounded.[7] The most significant unresolved discrepancy concerns the attacker: the detailed government report names Muhammad Issa Khalil Zaghal, while the Jewish Virtual Library names Mohammed Za'ul.[1][2]