2011 Jerusalem bus stop bombing
| 2011 Jerusalem bus stop bombing | |
|---|---|
| Location | Jerusalem |
| Coordinates | 31°47′16″N 35°12′11″E / 31.78778°N 35.20306°E |
| Date | 23 March 2011 15:00 (GMT+2) |
Attack type | Bombing |
| Deaths | 1 Israeli, 1 British civilian |
| Injured | 39 civilians |
| Perpetrators | Hamas |
| Motive | Antisemitism |
A bomb attack was carried out in a bus station in downtown Jerusalem, near the Jerusalem International Convention Center compound on 23 March 2011 at 15:00 (GMT+2). The bomb was placed near a bus stop, and detonated when Egged bus No.74 passed the station.
The explosion killed 2 people, a British national: 59-year-old Mary Jean Gardner, a Scottish Christian Bible translator who was studying Hebrew at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Rothberg International School and Hodaya Asulin who died 6 years later on 22 November 2017, she was 14 at the time of the bombing. The bombing also injured 39 people.
The attack was condemned by officials of Israel, the Palestinian Authority, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Spokespeople for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas, in contrast, praised the attack.
The Israeli Police said the bombing was a "terrorist attack." The perpetrators were not immediately identified. The Palestinian Authority brought in for questioning two Palestinian Islamic Jihad leaders, related to Israeli claims that the organization's Al-Quds Brigades were responsible for the attack. In September 2011, Israel arrested four Hamas militants, one of whom is an Israeli permanent resident from Jerusalem. The four are currently on trial by an Israeli military court for their role in the bombing.