2001 Azor attack

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 / 32.02111°N 34.80583°E
Date	14 February 2001
Attack type	Vehicle-ramming attack
Deaths	8 (7 soldiers, 1 civilian)
Injured	26
Perpetrator	Hamas claimed responsibility
Assailant	Khalil Abu-Alba

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.^[1] The Islamist militant organization Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.^[2]

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.^[3]

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.^[4]

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.^[2]