"I meant to detonate at the entrance, but there weren’t a lot of kids there…" suicide terrorist recounts how he was looking to kill children in his terror attack

Letter to PMW from former Israeli Parliament Member Prof. Arieh Eldad

“Hello,

In the second Intifada (i.e., PA terror campaign 2000-2005, more than 1,100 Israelis murdered) I served as director of the department of plastic surgery and burns at Hadassah Ein Kerem [Hospital]. Among others we also treated terrorists, like those who were sent on a suicide mission but remained alive.

I especially remember one of them, a young person who got on a bus with a bag of explosives in order to detonate in the Meah Shearim neighborhood [of Jerusalem].

He got off the bus and headed towards the entrance of a restaurant or event hall.

It was winter. The sidewalk was slippery and there were deep puddles on the road.

During treatments of his burns, he told me:

‘I meant to detonate at the entrance, but there weren’t a lot of kids there. I saw a group of mothers with baby carriages not far from the entrance and I went towards them, but I slipped. I fell into a puddle. The bag and the explosives got wet. When I set it off there was no explosion, just a small burst of flames.’

He was burned by this burst of flames, not very seriously. I’m sure he has already been released in one [prisoner exchange] deal or another.

‘There weren’t a lot of kids there.’

You don’t forget a sentence like that.

Prof. Arieh Eldad”

The second Intifada – PA terror campaign (2000-2005) in which more than 1,100 Israelis were murdered.