Meron Junction Bus 361 attack

On August 4, 2002, a Palestinian suicide bomber from the militant group Hamas conducted a suicide bombing aboard an Egged bus at the Meron junction in northern Israel near Safed. In addition to the bomber, six Israeli civilians, and three Israeli soldiers were killed. Thirty-eight people were injured.^[1][2]

Meron Junction Bus 361 attack
Part of the Second Intifada militancy campaign
The attack site
Native name	הפיגוע בקו 361 בצומת מירון
Location	Meron Junction, Israel
Coordinates	32°59′18″N 35°26′37″E
Date	August 4, 2002; 22 years ago (2002-08-04) c. 8:45 am (UTC+2)
Attack type	Suicide bombing
Weapon	Suicide vest
Deaths	6 Israeli civilians and 3 soldiers (+1 bomber)
Injured	38
Perpetrator	Hamas claimed responsibility
Participant	1

Hamas subsequently publicly claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming it was in retaliation for an Israeli airstrike against a Hamas commander and to express displeasure with a UN-sponsored investigation into the Israeli incursion into the Jenin refugee camp that April.^[2]

Saeb Erakat condemned the attack, and Palestinian minister Nabil Shaath claimed that Palestinians were continuing to try to halt attacks on Israel, despite the Israeli actions. The bus attack occurred a week after the Hebrew University bombing, in which a Palestinian attacker affiliated with Hamas killed 9 people.^[2]

On 27 August, Israeli authorities arrested 7 Arab-Israelis, all members of the same family, who allegedly assisted the bomber. According to police, the suspects helped store explosives in a nursery school, dressed the bomber as a tourist, and scouted the target.^[3]

In 2019, Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett signed an order enabling Israel to seize "pay-for-slay" payments from the Palestinian Authority to Arab Israelis convicted on terrorism charges. This order included two prisoners who Israeli claimed assisted the Meron Junction bomber.^[1]