Afula Bus suicide bombing

The Afula Bus suicide bombing was the suicide bombing attack that was carried out on April 6, 1994 at a bus next to an Egged bus in the center of Afula, Israel. Eight Israeli civilians were killed in the attack and 55 additional people were injured. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Afula Bus suicide bombing was the first suicide bombing attack to be carried out by Palestinian militants against Israeli civilians in Israel.

Preparations for the attack
The Afula Bus suicide bombing attack was planned by Hamas chief bombmaker Yahya Ayyash, who began to plan suicide bombings within Israel in 1992.

Ayyash rigged a 1987 Opel Ascona with seven gas cylinders, five anti-personal hand grenades, and wrapped the bomb in a rucksack containing 1,100 carpenter nails.

The attack
Around 11 am, during the Holocaust Memorial Day, a Palestinian suicide bomber, drove a vehicle full of explosives into the division nine street in downtown Afula.

The suicide bomber stopped his vehicle next to an Egged commuter bus line number 348 and detonated the explosives device as the bus was boarding passengers at the bus stop which was crowded with people.

The perpetrators
A few hours after the blast, Hamas issued a communique stating that the bombing was carried out by a 19-year-old Palestinian named Ra'id Zaqarna, who originated from the village of Qabatya in the West Bank and who was a member of the Abdel el-Rahman Hamadan militant cell of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Zaqarna drove to the intersection of Afula's 9th Brigade (Hativa Tesha) street, and pulled in front of the #348 bus. As a group of Israeli students boarded the bus, Zaqarna detonated the bomb.

In addition, Hamas publicly declared that the attack, which was carried out 40 days after the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre (the end of the mourning period according to the Islamic religion), was carried out in revenge for the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre.