Matza Restaurant Suicide Bombing

The bombing took place during the Second Intifada, a sustained campaign of Palestinian terrorism against Israeli civilians that had been underway since late 2000.[1] March 2002 was among the conflict's deadliest periods. Israeli sources recorded 135 people killed in terrorist attacks during that month, with suicide bombings occurring at a rate of roughly once every two days.[2][3] The period became known in Israeli public discourse as "Black March."

Four days before the Matza attack, a suicide bomber killed 30 people at the Park Hotel in Netanya on the first night of Passover. That attack persuaded the Israeli government to launch Operation Defensive Shield in the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria.[2] The Matza bombing occurred two days after the operation began.

The Matza restaurant was a well-known Haifa establishment in the Neve Sha'anan neighborhood, near the Grand Canyon shopping mall.[1][4] It was operated by members of the Adawi family from the Galilee village of Tur'an, employed many Israeli Arabs, and attracted both Jewish and Arab customers.[5][6] The wider complex included a gas station, supermarket, garages, a furniture store, and offices.[7]

At about 14:45 on March 31, 2002, during the Passover intermediate days, a suicide bomber entered the Matza restaurant, which was completely full, and detonated an explosive belt.[5][8] The explosion occurred near the center of the restaurant, causing the ceiling to collapse and scattering glass across the surrounding area. The restaurant was almost completely destroyed.[5][7] Emergency and security personnel responded to the scene, and an initial investigation found that the restaurant had no security guard.[5]

The bomber was identified as Shadi Zakariya Ridha Tubasi, a 24-year-old resident of Jenin.[1] Tubasi held an Israeli identity card because his mother was an Israeli citizen originally from Muqeibila, a village on Mount Gilboa. She had married a man from Jenin and moved there while retaining Israeli citizenship.[1][9] The identity card allowed Tubasi to travel freely; he arrived without an escort and selected the target himself.[1]

The Hamas operational infrastructure in Jenin, headed by an operative identified as Kayas or Qeis 'Adwan, planned and carried out the attack.[1][6] 'Adwan masterminded the bombing, constructed the explosive device, and recruited and dispatched the bomber. Israeli forces killed him in a targeted operation on April 5, 2002.[6]

Haifa mayor Amram Mitzna urged residents not to enter restaurants without security guards following the bombing. Police Commissioner Shlomo Aharonishki said that a guard could reduce harm but could not necessarily prevent an attack of this kind.[5] Police believed the bomber may have had accomplices and searched the surrounding area.[7]

Israeli government records name 15 people killed in the attack: Orli Ofer, 15; Daniel Carlos Wegman, 50; Moshe Levin, 51; Danielle Menchel, 22; Suheil Adawi, 32; Dov Chernobroda, 67; Gal Koren, 14; Ran Koren, 18; Shimon Koren, 54; Aviel Ron, 54; Ofer Oren, 18; Anat Ron, 21; Adi Shiran, 17; Carlos Yerushalmi, 52; and Ya'akov Shani, 52.[1] Most were residents of Haifa; Adawi was from Tur'an and Yerushalmi from Karkur.[1]

Several family groups were killed together. Shimon Koren died alongside his sons Ran and Gal, while Aviel Ron was killed with his children Anat and Ofer.[1] The Ron family had come to celebrate Anat's 21st birthday. Aviel's wife Carmit later recalled that the family had just received its order when, perhaps two minutes later, "the world went dark." Carmit survived but lost her husband and both children.[8]

Suheil Adawi was a Palestinian citizen of Israel who worked as a waiter at the restaurant, which was run by members of his family. Five of his relatives were wounded.[10] Another account renders Orli Ofer's name as Orly Ofir and identifies her as a player on Maccabi Haifa's girls' soccer team who spoke briefly while being taken to a hospital and later died.[11]

Shimon Shiran was severely injured and sustained serious head injuries; his 17-year-old daughter Adi was killed, and his wife Hili was also injured. He was treated at Rambam Hospital, transferred to Loewenstein Rehabilitation Hospital, and later moved to a rehabilitation unit in Haifa. He died in April 2009, more than seven years after the bombing.[12] Carlos Yerushalmi of Karkur died on April 1, 2002, from wounds sustained the previous day.[13]

Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, according to multiple contemporaneous reports.[5][7] The bombing was part of a broader pattern of attacks originating from Jenin during the Second Intifada. Between October 2000 and July 2003, analysts counted 35 successful suicide attacks launched from the northern West Bank, with 21 originating from Jenin and 14 from Nablus.[14]

The attack drew attention to the security implications of family-reunification policies that enabled some people with ties to the West Bank to obtain Israeli citizenship or identity documents. Tubasi's family obtained citizenship through his mother's status, and he used the resulting freedom of movement to travel to Haifa.[9]

The Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs later listed the Matza restaurant bombing among the most catastrophic attacks on civilian entertainment venues during the Second Intifada.[15] The Center for Israel Education's Hamas timeline includes the Haifa restaurant bombing among attacks for which Hamas claimed credit and describes Hamas as taking a leading role in suicide attacks during the Second Intifada.[16]

Reported casualty figures vary across sources, apparently reflecting different counting dates and definitions. Israeli government records and several reference accounts give 15 killed.[1][10] A Jewish Virtual Library casualties table reports 16 killed.[17] A contemporaneous U.S. Senate statement cited 14 killed, while Ynet later reported that 14 died at the scene and another person died after several days.[18][12] Ynet described Shimon Shiran as a later victim after his death in 2009, making totals that include delayed deaths difficult to compare directly with initial reports.[12]

Injury estimates diverge more sharply. The Israeli government report gives approximately 34 wounded.[1] A government map and the Jewish Virtual Library report more than 40 injured.[4][17] A Washington Institute account gives 131 injured, substantially more than the other reviewed sources.[14] Ynet's initial report gave 31 injured.[5]

Most sources date the attack to March 31, 2002, including Israeli government records, the Jewish Virtual Library, the Washington Institute, and contemporaneous reporting.[1][5][4] One Ynetnews retrospective instead listed March 30, 2002.[19] An image caption on an Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs page reportedly gave the year as 2001, although the event text and the other accounts gave 2002.[20]