Dizengoff Center suicide bombing

Dizengoff Center suicide bombing
The mall after the bombing
Native name	הפיגוע בדיזנגוף סנטר
Location	Tel Aviv, Israel
Coordinates	32°04′34″N 34°46′29″E
Date	March 4, 1996 (1996-03-04) c. 4:00 pm (GMT+2)
Target	Dizengoff Center
Attack type	Suicide bomber
Weapon	Suicide vest
Deaths	13 Israelis (12 civilians, 1 soldier) + 1 bomber
Injured	125
Perpetrator	Hamas
Participant	1

The Dizengoff Center suicide bombing (also Purim massacre) was a Palestinian suicide terrorist attack which took place on March 4, 1996, on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Purim. The suicide bomber blew himself up outside Dizengoff Center in downtown Tel Aviv, killing 13 Israelis and wounding 130 more. The terrorist attack was the fourth suicide bombing in Israel in nine days, bringing the death toll during that span to over 60.

The attack

Memorial for the attack victims

The suicide bomber detonated just before 4 pm (GMT+2) outside the Dizengoff Center, the largest shopping mall in Tel Aviv. That day the center was particularly crowded for the eve of Purim. Many in the crowd were children dressed in costume for the holiday. The bomber sought to enter the mall but turned back because of the police presence. Instead, he went into the busy intersection where a large number of pedestrians were crossing the street and set off his 20-kilogram nail bomb. Following the attack, a phone call to an Israeli radio station apparently from a Hamas representative identified the attacker as Abdel-Rahim Ishaq, a 24-year-old resident of Ramallah.

External links

• The Bat-Chen Diaries
• Patches, a memorial film
• The Dizengoff Memorial Quilt Project at the Wayback Machine (archived October 27, 2009)