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The Bat Mitzvah massacre was a January 2002 terrorist attack in Hadera, Israel, in which a Palestinian gunman killed seven people and wounded 33 at a Bat Mitzvah celebration, a traditional Jewish celebration held for a 12-year-old girl.

Attack

The attack took place at 9:45 p.m. as guests were departing. The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades assumed responsibility for the attack, claiming it was vengeance for the killing of one of its leaders. An Israeli police spokesman said the man, apparently on a suicide mission, had detonated explosives on him and thrown several grenades into the Armon David wedding hall, where the Bat Mitzvah celebration took place. A belt filled with explosives was found on the attacker.

The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said the killer, 24-year-old Abdel Salam Hassouna, was from a village near Nablus and launched the attack to avenge the death of Raed Karmi.

Media coverage

U.S. networks showed amateur video of the bat mitzvah massacre, and also a video made earlier by the killer, who is seen declaring: "I am doing this to avenge all the Palestinian martyrs." The Al Jazeera television network was criticized for bias in coverage of the massacre, failing to note that the victims were attending a bat mitzvah and that the gunman crashed the event at a crowded banquet hall, and failing to mention the number of people killed by Raed Karmi when covering his assassination several days earlier, which would have provided context for the story.

International response

In Washington, the Bush administration condemned the Hadera attack "in the strongest possible terms," calling it a "horrific act of terrorism."

The Palestinian Authority condemned the attack but blamed Israel for provoking it.

See also

• Palestinian political violence
• Passover massacre

References

2. ^ Bat mitzvah massacre in Israel leaves seven dead, Phil Reeves, 18 January 2002
3. ^ Gunman kills 6 Israelis; jets fire missiles in response, January 18, 2002. CNN
4. ^ Perspectives on war. Hickey, Neil, Columbia Journalism Review, March 1 2002

• Israeli casualties in the Second Intifada
• Suicide bombing in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
• Terrorist incidents in 2002
• 2002 in Israel
• Massacres in Israel
• Massacres in Israel during the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
• Terrorist attacks attributed to Palestinian militant groups
• Fatah