King George Street Bombing
The attack
On Thursday afternoon, 21 March 2002, a Palestinian suicide bomber detonated the explosive device, hidden underneath his jacket, in the middle of Jerusalem's shopping district in the King George Street in downtown Jerusalem amongst a crowd of shoppers.
The blast killed three civilians and more than 40 people were wounded, seven of them seriously.
The perpetrators
After the attack the Palestinian militia al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the bombing and stated that the perpetrator was Mohammad Hashaika, a 22-year-old from the West Bank village of Talluza near Nablus. Hashaika was a member of the Tanzim and a former Palestinian policeman. Later on, it was revealed that Hashaika was actually arrested for allegedly planning to carry out an earlier attack. Nevertheless, the Palestinian authority released him a week before he managed to carry out this suicide bombing.