Incident Summary:
02/14/2001: A Palestinian bus driver, Khalil Abu Elba, steered into a group of young Israeli soldiers and civilians at a crowded bus stop near Tel Aviv, Israel, killing eight people, injuring 17 others. Israeli police shot and captured the perpetrator who fled the scene. Family members of the perpetrator indicated that he was not a member of any militant organization, but Izz-al-Din al-Qassam Battalion, the military wing of HAMAS, said the group was assuming responsibility for the attack.
Overview
GTD ID:
200102140003
When:
2001-02-14
Country:
Israel
Region:
Middle East & North Africa
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Tel Aviv
City:
Holon
Location Details:
The incident occurred at the Azur intersection, near the city.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Armed Assault |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Military |
Name of Entity |
Israeli Army |
Specific Description |
Soldiers waiting at a bus stop near Tel Aviv |
Nationality of Target |
Israel |
Target Type: Private Citizens & Property |
Name of Entity |
Civilians |
Specific Description |
Civilians waiting at a bus stop near Tel Aviv |
Nationality of Target |
Israel |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Yes |
Extent of Property Damage |
Minor (likely < $1 million) |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Vehicle (not to include vehicle-borne explosives, i.e., car or truck bombs) |
|
Weapon Details |
The perpetrator drove a bus into a crowd of people. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
Yes |
Alternate Designation () |
Other Crime Type |
Additional Information |
Multiple Palestinian groups, including HAMAS, claimed responsibility for the bus attack, saying it was carried out to avenge the death of Masoud Ayyad, the high-ranking Palestinian security official killed the day before by Israeli Apache helicopters firing antitank missiles. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
1 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
1 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
8 Fatalities / 17 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
8 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
17 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
1 |
Sources
Sources
Lee Hockstader, “Attack at bus stop kills eight Israelis; Palestinian driver rams into rush hour crowd,” The Washington Post, February 15, 2001. |
Matthew Kalman, “Bus driver kills eight Israelis. Palestinian acted alone, officials say,” USA Today, February 15, 2001. |
“Hamas armed wing phone caller assumes responsibility for bus attack,” BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, February 15, 2001. |
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