(Communicated by the Prime Minister’s Media Adviser)
On 1st November 2004 at 11:15 a suicide terrorist blew himself up in the Carmel Market in Tel Aviv. Three Israeli citizens were murdered and 40 injured as a result of the bombing.
The ISA discovered that the PFLP in Nablus, which has been responsible for many horrific and painful attacks, were responsible.
Ahmed Tiseer Khalil Ar’ada, 21, from the Ascar refugee camp, planned the attack and was arrested on the same day. Ba’asam Muhammad Adiv Hundkaji, also from Nablus, and an A-Najah University architecture student, led the perpetrator to the site.
Ar’ada admitted that the actual suicide terrorist was 16-year-old Amar Rahim Ahmed Ali, who was due to have participated in a double suicide attack approximately one month ago; this attack was foiled by the death of senior PFLP terrorist Hani Akad, who was killed in a 15 September 2004 clash with IDF soldiers, and as a result of the arrests of the other would-be suicide-terrorist. Ar’ada said that it was Akad who had studied how to manufacture explosives.
Ar’ada said that Hundkaji used a press card that he had been issued with in the framework of his studies at A-Najah University in order to pass through IDF checkpoints unhindered.
Hundkaji said that the day before the bombing, using his A-Najah University press card as mentioned above, he had practiced taking a suicide bomber to Jerusalem and had checked potential targets (including the US and French consulates) unhindered. He was assisted by east Jerusalem taxi driver Bashar Muhammad Daoud Abbasi, who had previously served a short sentence for transporting Palestinians who were in Israel illegally. Hundkaji and Abbasi coordinated transportation on the day of the bombing to the French Embassy in Tel Aviv, which was the initial target.
In recent months, terrorist elements in Samaria have been considering Jerusalem both as a potential target and as a conduit for transporting terrorists from Samaria into Israel.
As noted above, terrorists continue to utilize residents of eastern Jerusalem due to their freedom of movement in Israel.
It is likely that the PFLP exploited the severe economic distress of the 16-year-old suicide bomber’s family in order recruit him.