Passover massacre

Passover massacre
Part of the Second Intifada
The dining hall of the Park Hotel following the attack
Passover massacre is located in Central Israel
Passover massacre
The attack site
LocationPark Hotel, Netanya, Israel
Coordinates32°19′57″N 34°51′03″E / 32.33250°N 34.85083°E / 32.33250; 34.85083
Date27 March 2002; 22 years ago (2002-03-27)
19:30 pm (GMT+2)
Attack type
Suicide bomber
Deaths30 civilians (+1 assailant)
Injured160 civilians
PerpetratorHamas claimed responsibility

The Passover massacre[1] was a suicide bombing carried out by Hamas[2] at the Park Hotel in Netanya, Israel on 27 March 2002, during a Passover seder. 30 civilians were killed in the attack and 140 were injured. It was the deadliest attack against Israeli civilians during the Second Intifada,[3] and one of the most severe suicide attacks Israel has ever experienced.[4]

  1. ^ Sources describing the incident as the "Passover massacre":
    • "Alleged Passover massacre plotter arrested", CNN, 26 March 2008.
    • Ohad Gozani, "Hotel blast survivors relive the Passover massacre", The Daily Telegraph, 29 March 2002.
    • "This reached a peak following the Passover massacre in the seaside resort of Netanya..." David Newman, "The consequence or the cause? Impact on the Israel-Palestine Peace Process", in Mary E.A. Buckley, Mary Buckley, Rick Fawn. Global Responses to Terrorism: 9/11, the War in Afghanistan, and Beyond, Routledge, 2003; ISBN 0-415-31429-1, p. 158.
    • "They faced stiff resistance from Palestinian gunmen who began preparing the camp's defenses as early as the Passover massacre in Netanya..." Todd C. Helmus, Russell W. Glenn. Steeling the Mind: Combat Stress Reactions and Their Implications for Urban Warfare Rand Corporation, 2005; ISBN 0-8330-3702-1, p. 58.
    • "It can therefore be asked whether the 'human bomb' offensive starting with the Passover massacre on 27 March 2002..." Brigitte L. Nacos, "The Terrorist Calculus Behind 9–11: A Model for Future Terrorism?" in Gus Martin. The New Era of Terrorism: Selected Readings, Sage Publications Inc, 2004; ISBN 0-7619-8873-4, p. 176.
  2. ^ Israel seals off territories for Passover, bbc.co.uk, 16 April 2003.
  3. ^ "Ten years after Passover blast, survivors return to Park Hotel". The Times of Israel. 27 March 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  4. ^ Ganor 2015, p. 111.