2001 Azor attack

2001 Azor attack
Part of The Second Intifada
The attack aftermath
class=notpageimage| The attack site
Location	Azor junction, Israel
Coordinates	32°01′16″N 34°48′21″E
Date	14 February 2001 (2001-02-14)
Attack type	Vehicle-ramming attack
Deaths	8 (7 soldiers, 1 civilian)
Injured	26
Perpetrator	Hamas claimed responsibility
Assailant	Khalil Abu-Alba

Memorial at the place of the attack

On 14 February 2001, a vehicular attack took place near Azor, Israel. A Palestinian man from Gaza drove a bus into a group of Israeli soldiers who stood at a bus stop at Azor junction, killing eight people—seven soldiers and one civilian, and injuring 26 further. The Islamist militant organization Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

Attack

The attacker, 35-year old Khalil Abu Alba from Gaza, was a bus driver who used to drive Arab workers in the morning from his city toward Tel Aviv. He had been an Egged bus driver for five years before the attack.

On 14 February, after dropping off as usual the Arab workers at Lod and Ramle, he drove toward Holon. When arriving Azor junction, he noticed a group of Israeli soldiers waiting at a bus stop. The attacker accelerated the bus, and sharply swerved to the right, hitting dozens of people. He killed eight people, seven soldiers and one civilian, and injured 26.

After the attack he drove the bus quickly southwards towards Gaza. The bus was stopped only after crashing into a truck 30km away after police officers had shot at its wheels.

External links

• The Jewish Agency for Israel website