Incident Summary:
03/27/2002: A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device inside the restaurant of the Park Hotel located in the coastal Israeli town of Netanya, Israel. The attack occurred during the Jewish holiday of Passover and claimed the lives of thirty civilians and wounded 143 more. In a released statement to the media, a HAMAS spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack and identified the assailant as twenty-five year old Abdelbaset Odeih from the West Bank town of Tulkarem. Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of HAMAS stated that the attack was intended to send a message to the Arab summit members that the group was resolute in its efforts to strike at Israel.
Overview
GTD ID:
200203270001
When:
2002-03-27
Country:
Israel
Region:
Middle East & North Africa
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Central
City:
Netanya
Location Details:
The incident occurred at the Park Hotel in the city.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Business |
Name of Entity |
Civilians |
Specific Description |
Indiscriminate civilians inside a restaurant of the Park Hotel located in the coastal Israeli town of Netanya |
Nationality of Target |
Israel |
Target Type: Business |
Name of Entity |
Park Hotel |
Specific Description |
Park Hotel located in the coastal Israeli town of Netanya |
Nationality of Target |
Israel |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Yes |
Extent of Property Damage |
Major (likely > $1 million but < $1 billion) |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Explosives |
Suicide (carried bodily by human being) |
Weapon Details |
The suicide bomber carried unspecified explosives directly on his person in the incident. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | Yes |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
The bombing was dubbed by Israeli authorities as the “Passover Massacre,” and was the deadliest such incident since the June 21, 2001 suicide bombing outside a Tel Aviv nightclub that killed twenty one people. The bombing occurred during the visit of former U.S. Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni to Israel and the Arab League Summit in Beirut, Lebanon. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
1 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
31 Fatalities / 140 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
31 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
1 |
Total Number of Injured |
140 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
“Death Toll From Israeli Hotel Bombing Rises To 20,” Agence France Presse, March 28, 2002. |
Jason Keyser, “Suicide Bomber Blows Himself Up During Passover Seder; 19 Israelis Killed, More Than 120 Wounded,” Associated Press, March 27, 2002. |
“'Passover Massacre' At Israeli Hotel Kills 19,” CNN.com, March 27, 2002. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties