Matza restaurant suicide bombing
The Matza restaurant massacre occurred on March 31, 2001, when a Palestinian suicide bomber, member of the Hamas terrorist organization, exploded inside the Matza restaurant in Haifa, Israel. 15 people were killed.
The attack occurred at 14:45 during the Passover vacation in Israel, and the restaurant was crowded with families having their lunch. Despite the Passover massacre which occurred just four days earlier in Netanya, and the tense atmosphere following it, the clients and restaurant owners were not particularly worried about security: the Matza restaurant is operated by an Israeli Arab family, and its multi-ethnic nature was thought to make it an unlikely choice for a terrorist attack.
List of the 15 victims
Of the 15 victims, 14 were local Haifa residents, and one a waiter from a nearby town. Two families were completely wiped out, and other families suffered death and grave injuries to multiple family members.
- The Ron family lost father Aviel (54), daughter Anat(21) and son Ofer (17), leaving just the mother alive from the entire family.
- The Koren family lost father Shimon (52), son Ran (18), and son Gal (15).
- Adi Shiran (17), high school student
- Daniel Carlos Wegman (51), engineer, planned to get married in the summer
- Daniel Menchel (22)
- Dov Chernobroda (47), architect
- Yaacov Shani (53)
- Moshe Levin (52)
- Orly Ofir (16), a soccer player in the Maccabi Haifa girls team.
- Soheil Adawi (32), a waiter
Reaction
The Israeli military reaction to the series of terrorist massacres of Passover 2002 was Operation Defensive Shield, in which the IDF operated in many major Palestinian towns and camps to capture and kill Palestinian terrorists. The Bush administration was supportive of this operation, justifying it as a means of self-defense in light of the recent attacks.