A synagogue named for Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in Tel Aviv, near the site of a suicide bombing on Aug. 18, 2024.
By YONI BEN MENACHEM
JNS
Israeli security agencies are particularly concerned in the wake of the failed suicide bombing in Tel Aviv on Aug. 18, 2024, for which Hamas claimed responsibility together with Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
A Hamas terrorist managed to reach Tel Aviv and detonate an 18 pound explosive device near a synagogue. Miraculously, an apparent malfunction caused the bomb to go off prematurely, preventing a potential mass casualty event. The terrorist, a resident of a village near Nablus, was killed in the explosion. He had no prior security or criminal record.
According to Tel Aviv District Police Commander Peretz Amar, “This was an attack involving a large and significant bomb. Had it not detonated outside, it could have caused catastrophic damage. If the terrorist had entered the synagogue, the outcome could have been a terrible tragedy.”
The police, Israel Security Agency and IDF have launched a comprehensive investigation into the incident, which is currently under a media blackout.
New Strategy?
The question troubling Israeli security officials is whether Hamas is altering its strategy. Is Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar planning to reintroduce suicide attacks to demonstrate his leadership?
These tactics were used extensively during the Second Intifada in 2000 and earlier in 1996 to disrupt the Oslo Accords. Traditionally, suicide attacks were not the weapon of Sunni Hamas or Fatah. When Israel expelled hundreds of Hamas members to Lebanon in 1992, they were welcomed by Shi’ite Hezbollah, trained and indoctrinated. Today, the organizations are comrades-in-arms.
Combat Today In Gaza
The military wing of Hamas, led by Yahya Sinwar and his brother Muhammad, is reportedly under significant strain due to the IDF’s operations in Gaza, which have decimated much of Hamas’s top military leadership. Sinwar seems eager to open new fronts to alleviate the pressure on Gaza and boost Palestinian morale.
In an official statement, Hamas has declared its intent to renew suicide attacks within Israel, citing Israel’s policies of targeted killings and its treatment of Palestinians. Despite this declaration, Israeli security officials are evaluating whether Hamas truly intends to reinstate suicide bombings or if this announcement is merely a component of the organization’s propaganda and incitement efforts.
Manufactured In Samaria
While Israel Security Agency officials have not yet identified a clear trend toward the renewed use of suicide bombers, they have observed an increasing use of explosive devices by terrorist organizations over the past two years.
These devices have been planted on roads in Judea and Samaria, the Galilee and Golan, or dropped on IDF forces.
Some explosives are manufactured in northern Samaria, with additional supplies smuggled in quantities from Iran through Syria and Jordan. The success of ongoing efforts by the IDF and ISA to curb the smuggling has been limited.
The security establishment is particularly concerned about potential copycat attacks, as terrorist organizations are leveraging social media to amplify the Tel Aviv attack and incite further violence.
An additional concern is the leadership of Hamas’s military wing in Judea and Samaria, which is believed to be directed by Zaher al-Jabarin. Al-Jabarin, who replaced Saleh al-Arouri after his targeted killing by the Israeli Mossad in Beirut earlier this year, is also regarded as the “financial brain” of Hamas. He was responsible for financing Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre and is now one of Israel’s top targets. Al-Jabarin resides in Turkey and is reportedly close to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In response to the Tel Aviv attack, the Israeli police have heightened alertness and vigilance in all public places, particularly in central Israel.
Originally published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
Tel Aviv synagogue’s ‘holiness’ saved it from bomb, congregant says
Tel Aviv police chief Haim Bublil told Kan News Radio of a failed suicide bombing in Tel Aviv on Aug. 18 that “we are in a kind of miracle that the incident did not end in dozens of deaths.” Worshippers at a nearby synagogue named for Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, known by the acronym Rashbi, told JNS that they were in the middle of the silent prayer of the evening service on that Sunday night when just after 8 p.m., there was a thunderous blast, the electricity went out, and the synagogue’s windows shattered.
“Our first thought was it was a missile,” Yehuda Meshulam, who directs the synagogue, which also doubles as a study hall on the nondescript Lehi Road in south Tel Aviv, told JNS. Others mentioned a drone.
Racing outside, worshippers saw a truck on fire, as the smell of smoke and ash choked the air. They lugged buckets of water to douse the flames until rescue workers arrived.
Seeing a man’s remains under the truck, some thought incorrectly that the attack was organized crime. “We actually calmed down because we thought it was a criminal attack and not terrorists that might be walking around,” Meshulam said.
They never expected it to be a suicide bomber—a hallmark of Palestinian terrorism two decades ago that killed hundreds of Israelis in scores of attacks nationwide.
After Israeli police and security officials examined video footage from an adjacent hardware shop, it emerged that the blast just outside the synagogue was a bungled terror attack. The terrorist, who has been identified as a resident of the Palestinian city of Nablus in his 50s, walked about half a mile before sitting down on a bench outside the synagogue where the 17-pound explosive in his backpack went off. He was killed instantly. A 43-year-old Israeli commuter, who was on an electric scooter, was hurt moderately.
Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack, but the attacker had no known affiliation with either terror group. As the investigation continues, Israeli security officials said that Iran or Hezbollah may have directed the attacker.
Congregants at the synagogue read a chapter of Psalms, thanking God for the near-miss.
When JNS visited the site on Wednesday morning, a charred wall with a gaping hole from the shrapnel was still visible between a hardware store and the synagogue. The Tel Aviv police chief stated that there would have been many casualties if the blast had occurred inside a building.
“People here are still internalizing the size of the miracle,” said David Tarbel, 19, a yeshivah student who was praying at the synagogue during the attack.
