2011 Tel Aviv nightclub attack

Terrorist attack on a popular nightclub in Israel yes August 2024 2011 Tel Aviv nightclub attack Israel center ta The attack site Tel Aviv, Israel 2011 8 29 y 32 03 14 N 34 45 59 E inline,title 1:40 (GMT+2)Lappin Yaakov https://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=235806 Timeline of south Tel Aviv terror attack The Jerusalem Post 29 August 2011 15 July 2016 Vehicle attack, stabbing spree 0 4 Israeli civilians4 Israeli police officersחדשות 2 – פיגוע דריסה בת"א: 8 בני אדם נפצעו Muhammad Sa'afanLappin Yaakov https://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=235802 Nablus man who attacked TA club named as Muhammad Sa'afan The Jerusalem Post 29 August 2011 15 July 2016 The 2011 Tel Aviv nightclub attack was a combined vehicular assault and stabbing attack which occurred on 29 August 2011 when a Palestinian attacker stole an Israeli taxi cab and rammed it into a police checkpoint guarding the popular nightclub, Haoman 17, in Tel Aviv which was filled with 2,000 Israeli teenagers.Marquardt Alexander Nota Bruno 29 August 2011 Terror Attack Outside Tel Aviv Nightclub Filled With 2,000 Teenagers https://abcnews.go.com/International/palestinian-drives-stolen-taxi-israelis-stabs/story?id=14403744 ABC News After crashing into the checkpoint, the attacker jumped out of the vehicle and began stabbing people. Four civilians, four police officers, and the assailant were injured in the attack. The assailant was living illegally in Israel at the time of the attack. The plan of the attacker allegedly was to strike some of the hundreds of teenagers present at the nightclub. Nevertheless, due to an Israel Border Police roadblock at the entrance and immediate response of the Border Police team during the stabbing spree, a much larger and fatal mass-casualty incident was prevented.Kubovich Yaniv https://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/terror-attack-in-tel-aviv-leaves-eight-wounded-1.381250 https://web.archive.org/web/20110829163023/http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/terror-attack-in-tel-aviv-leaves-eight-wounded-1.381250 dead 29 August 2011 Terror attack in Tel Aviv leaves eight wounded Haaretz 29 August 2011 15 July 2016 Background The attack occurred during a period of heightened security on Israel's southern border following a series of Palestinian militant attacks two weeks prior launched from Egyptian territory and a spate of rocket attacks from Gaza.Bronner Ethan https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/30/world/middleeast/30israel.html 3 October 2017 The New York Times Attacker at Israeli nightclub injures 8 29 August 2011Flower Kevin Police: Man plows into Israeli checkpoint, goes on stabbing spree http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/08/29/mideast.violence/index.html 1 October 2017 CNN 29 August 2011 The Israel Defense Forces reported that they had upgraded their presence along the border with Egypt after receiving intelligence warning of a possible attack by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Assailant The assailant, a 21-year-old Palestinian man named Muhammad Sa'afan (alt.: Muhammad Bin Said Zofan), a native of Kalkilya, had been living in Israel as an illegal migrant, sleeping in an abandoned apartment adjacent to the disused Siksik mosque in the Jaffa neighborhood, and supporting himself by doing odd jobs. Sofram met Mohammed Bin Saddam Hussein Biari, a fellow Muslim of the same age, at prayer services in a Jaffa mosque. The two began planning to carry out a terrorist attack and Zofran began practicing the martial art of attacking with a knife and a stick in his apartment. Although in the initial investigation the attacker insisted that he initiated, planned and prepared for the attack by himself, and that he bought the knife specifically for the stabbing attack and for the taxi robbery, Israeli security nevertheless investigated whether the assailant operated under the instructions and assistance of a terror organization, and whether there might be more attacks expected.המחבל: "תכננתי בעצמי". ממי שמע על המסיבה?Oren Amir Criminal No. 1 https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/criminal-no-1-1.382133 https://web.archive.org/web/20171001165401/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/criminal-no-1-1.382133 dead 1 October 2017 1 October 2017 Haaretz 2 September 2011 According to a police official in Tel Aviv, the attacker had received preliminary information about the big party which took place at the "Haoman 17" nightclub during that specific time. The police official also stated "no one arrives by chance to such an event by chance to carry out a stabbing attack at that late hour, unless one has preliminary information". Investigations revealed that during Ramadan, on 12 August 2011, Biari and Zofran plotted to attack Israeli security forces and civilian Jewish Israelis near the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. To this end, they purchased two knives and rode to Jerusalem on a public bus, staying at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount for two weeks. However, according to Biari, Zofran told him that after speaking with a cleric at al-Aqsa he had decided to go back to Jaffa and become a "martyr" there. According to Biari, before leaving Jerusalem, Zofran borrowed Biari's cellphone and recorded a short film of himself that was intended for his parents. Biari stated that he had deleted the footage from his cellphone. Zofran went to Tel Aviv's new Central Bus Station on 28 August. He had intended to stab a soldier, steal the soldier's gun, and use it to shoot border police. However, after reportedly failing to locate a suitable soldier to stab, he saw a tractor at a construction site on Yedidia Frenkel Street in Tel Aviv's Florentin neighborhood and instead determined to return to that site, steal the tractor, and kill soldiers by ramming the tractor into them. When he returned to the construction site later that night, he was unable to locate the tractor. It was at this point that, according to the indictment, he determined that he would carjack a taxi and carry out a ramming attack on border police stationed at the nearby junction of Salameh and Abarbanel streets. Attack On Monday night, 29 August 2011, an Israeli taxi driver, Nachman Aji (60), who was driving his taxi on Salameh Street in Jaffa, picked up a passenger who sat next to the taxi driver and asked to be driven to the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station.Cohen Avi Aharonovitch: Terrorist intended much larger Tel Aviv attack http://www.israelhayom.com/2011/08/30/aharonovitch-terrorist-intended-much-larger-tel-aviv-attack/ 1 October 2017 Israel Hayom 30 August 2017 According to the taxi driver's testimony, shortly thereafter, around 1:30, the passenger pulled out a sharp knife and demanded that the taxi driver hand him the cab while insisting that "I do not want to hurt you". The driver attempted to fight the passenger but after the passenger stabbed him in the arm he agreed to hand over the vehicle.Barak: We won't let terror attacks affect our daily lives http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-08-30/israel/fl-jjps-barak-0831-20110830_1_terror-attack-defense-minister-ehud-barak-road-block 5 September 2011 Sun Sentinel 16 September 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20120916210157/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-08-30/israel/fl-jjps-barak-0831-20110830_1_terror-attack-defense-minister-ehud-barak-road-block dead Driver told police that he had believed that assailant merely wanted to steal the car.Lapin Yaakov Packed TA nightclub spared from frenzied Palestinian terrorist. 'Lone-wolf' from Nablus carjacked taxi, launched late-night stabbing spree outside club filled with 1,000 teens. 8 injured including police, club staff The Jerusalem Post 30 August 2011 887611579 At around 1:40Seven hurt in taxi attack outside Tel Aviv nightclub http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/08/29/164545.html 1 October 2017 Agence France-Presse Al Arabiya English 29 August 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20120626082027/http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/08/29/164545.html 26 June 2012 dead the attacker drove the stolen taxi at full force into a Border Police roadblock, which was securing the popular Haoman 17 nightclub Tel Aviv, one of Tel Aviv's most popular nightclubs. The club was holding an end-of-summer celebration at the time and according to an estimation of Aharon Aksul, the head of the Tel Aviv police district; the party being held at the club that night was for high school students and the club contained over 1,000 teenagers at the time of the attack. Two Border Police officers were injured by the onrushing car. According to the testimonies of police and people present at the scene, the driver was slumped over the steering wheel and the incident was initially perceived as a unintentional, but as a police officer approached to assist the driver, he began screaming Allahu Akbar, emerged from the car and "brutally" stabbed a nightclub security officer who had approached the car to assist the presumed accident victim, before being subdued by Yitzhak Assaraf, manager of the nightclub, together with security guards Oleg Chritov and Grigory Sokolov. The three men who subdued the terrorist were injured in the struggle.8 פצועים בפיגוע דריסה ליד "האומן 17" בת"א The attacker managed to stab several bystanders before the Border Police team at the site managed to wrestle the attacker to the ground and arrest him. To avoid panic, management instructed the DJ to keep the music playing, which he did for another hour. Only after the area outside the club had been secured did the management calmly evacuate the club of teenagers who had not know about the attack.DJ at Tel Aviv club: I was told to keep playing, Hartman, Ben. Jerusalem Post; 30 August 2011 ProQuest Around 3:00 the security forces at the site began evacuating the teenagers from the club. In total eight people were injured, three of them seriously: four policemen, three civilians and the taxi driver, in addition to the terrorist, who was slightly injured in the attack. All eight injured, including the terrorist, were taken to hospital for treatment.Marquardt Alexander Nota Bruno Terror Attack Outside Tel Aviv Nightclub Filled With 2,000 Teenagers https://abcnews.go.com/International/palestinian-drives-stolen-taxi-israelis-stabs/story?id=14403744 ABC News 29 August 2011Palestinian on stabbing spree in Tel Aviv http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/08/201182935934570828.html 1 October 2017 Reuters Al Jazeera 29 August 2011 The civilians injured in the stabbing attacks suffered from cuts to their heads, limbs and abdominal areas. Legal proceedings Although police requested that the suspect's custody be extended to 15 days following his arrest, the Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court extended it to only 10 days.Lappin Yaakov 30 August 2011 Nablus terrorist's custody extended by 10 days The Jerusalem Post https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/nablus-terrorists-custody-extended-by-10-days 887611588 The court hearing was held behind closed doors while the investigation was placed under a gag order.https://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israeli-court-extends-remand-of-palestinian-responsible-for-tel-aviv-terror-attack-1.381578 https://web.archive.org/web/20110831110514/http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israeli-court-extends-remand-of-palestinian-responsible-for-tel-aviv-terror-attack-1.381578 dead 31 August 2011 Israeli court extends remand of Palestinian responsible for Tel Aviv terror attack Haaretz 30 August 2011 6 September 2011 Kubovich, Yaniv Mohammed Bin Said Zofran (alt.: Muhammad Sa'afan)Lapin Yaakov 29 August 2011 Nablus man who attacked TA club named The Jerusalem Post https://www.jpost.com/national-news/nablus-man-who-attacked-ta-club-named-as-muhammad-saafan 887933962 (21,) was indicted on 20 September 2011; charged with illegal residency, robbery, injury with serious intent, attempted murder, and conspiracy to commit a crime. Second defendant, Mohammed Bin Saddam Hussein Biari (21) of Jaffa, was charged with failure to prevent a crime, conspiracy to commit a crime, and the destruction of evidence.Paraszczuk Joanna August attack in TA brings indictments. Charge sheet also reveals 2 Kalkilya, Jaffa men planned to knife Israelis at central bus station and Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque The Jerusalem Post 20 September 2011 893973117 The perpetrator was convicted for the attack in March 2012,Paraszczuk Joanna https://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=260353 Kalkilya man convicted over Tel Aviv terror attack The Jerusalem Post 4 March 2012 15 July 2016 and sentenced to 18 years in prison.18 Years for Terrorist who Wounded Eight in Tal Aviv, The Jerusalem Post, Joanna Paraszczuk, 20 July 2012 At the trial, the terrorist "refused to express any remorse."Israeli court sentences Palestinian to 18 years in jail for 2011 Tel Aviv attack BBC 20 July 2012 1027098601 Victims Two seriously injured border policemen returned to service after a rehabilitation process.Born Again: Policeman stabbed in Haoman 17 recounts, Walla, Mor Shimoni, 25 February 2017"Human Shield" from Tel-Aviv Terror Attack Returns to Serve in Border Police, YNET, Yoav Ziton, 22 February 2013 Vehicle ramming as a trend This was one of a small cluster of terrorist vehicle-ramming attacks in Israel in this period, others include the 2008 Jerusalem bulldozer attack, 2008 Jerusalem BMW attack and the 2011 Tel Aviv truck attack.Lappin Yaakov Background: Ramming Terror Attacks in Recent Years https://www.jpost.com/National-News/Background-Ramming-terror-attacks-in-recent-years 1 October 2017 Jerusalem Post 29 August 2011 Articles published by Alistair Jamison on NBC News, Joshua Keating in Slate, in Australia's The New Daily, and by the Counter Extremism Project cite this attack as an early example of the terrorist vehicle-ramming attacks that occurred frequently later in the decade in Europe.Vehicles as Weapons of Terror https://www.counterextremism.com/vehicles-as-weapons-of-terror Counter Extremism Project Counter Extremism Project 27 September 2017Keating Joshua Why Terrorists Use Vehicles as Weapons http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_world_/2014/11/05/car_attack_in_jerusalem_why_are_terrorists_ramming_vehicles_into_crowds.html 27 September 2017 Slate 5 November 2014Jamison Alastair Truck Attacks: Low-Tech, Soft Target Terrorism Is Growing Threat https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/berlin-truck-attack/truck-attacks-low-tech-soft-target-terrorism-growing-threat-n609996 27 September 2017 NBC News 20 December 2016Stiles Jackson The 'dreadful simplicity' of vehicle attacks http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/world/2016/07/15/history-vehicle-attacks/ 1 October 2017 The New Daily 15 July 2016 In his 2013 book, A Citizen's Guide to Terrorism and Counterterrorism, Christopher C. Harmon references the attack as one of a group of vehicle-ramming attacks in which a terrorist deliberately attempts to run over victims with the intention of "making 'holy war'".Harmon Christopher A Citizen's Guide to Terrorism and Counterterrorism 2013 Routledge 978-0415709422 12 Reactions Domestic parties Israel: Israel's Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich praised the police response, stating "the message of this event is that the police officers are the bullet-proof vest that prevents terror attacks against teenagers."Kais Roi Aharonovich: Students, remain vigilant Ynetnews http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4115216,00.html Ynet 29 August 2011 15 July 2016 Israeli security officials expressed concern regarding how easily the suspect was able to reach Tel Aviv and that casualties could have been higher without the nearby roadblock.http://www.thejc.com/news/israel-news/53941/tel-aviv-nightclub-attack-sparks-terror-fears https://web.archive.org/web/20111208150003/http://thejc.com/news/israel-news/53941/tel-aviv-nightclub-attack-sparks-terror-fears dead 8 December 2011 Tel Aviv nightclub attack sparks terror fears The Jewish Chronicle 1 September 2011 6 September 2011 Pfeffer, Anshel There was also fear of further attacks spurred by the end of Ramadan and the pending United Nations General Assembly vote on Palestinian independence.http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/israel-and-palestine/110830/israel-terror-palestine-statehood Israel braces for new terror GlobalPost 30 August 2011 6 September 2011 Tarnopolsky, Noga Palestinian territories: The Palestinian Authority condemned the attack. An official statement issued by the PA President's Office in Ramallah said, "[t]he president condemns the attacking of civilians, including the event that took place in Tel Aviv this morning."http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-08-30/israel/fl-jjps-pa-0831-20110830_1_tel-aviv-terrorist-attack-nightclub https://web.archive.org/web/20120916210209/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-08-30/israel/fl-jjps-pa-0831-20110830_1_tel-aviv-terrorist-attack-nightclub dead 16 September 2012 Palestinian Authority condemns Tel Aviv terrorist attack Sun Sentinel 30 August 2011 15 July 2016Levy Elior PA condemns Tel Aviv terror attack Ynetnews http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4115374,00.html Ynet 29 August 2011 15 July 2016 International United States: The United States Department of State condemned the attack stating "the United States condemns in strongest terms yesterday's brutal attack on innocent civilians in Tel Aviv."Victoria Nuland https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2011/08/171153.htm Daily Press Briefing 29 August 2011 U.S. State Department 15 July 2016https://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=235930 US strongly condemns terror attack at Tel Aviv nightclub The Jerusalem Post 30 August 2011 15 July 2016 References External links multiple video reports; ABC News Video report; The Guardian Photo of smashed taxi; Sky News Palestinian wounds seven Israelis in Tel Aviv attack – published on the BBC News on 29 August 2011 Israeli police: 7 wounded in Palestinian attackJanuary 2025 medicmedic – published on The Associated Press on 28 August 2011 Police: Man plows into Israeli checkpoint, goes on stabbing spree – published on CNN on 29 August 2011 Category:Terrorist incidents in Israel in 2011 Category:Terrorist incidents attributed to Palestinian militant groups 2011 Tel Aviv nightclub attack Category:Knife attacks in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict Category:Terrorist incidents involving vehicular attacks in Asia Category:2010s crimes in Tel Aviv Category:Attacks on nightclubs Category:August 2011 crimes in Asia Category:Vehicle-ramming attacks in Israel Category:Mass stabbings in Tel Aviv Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in Tel Aviv Category:2010s vehicle-ramming attacks Category:2011 road incidents in Asia Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in 2011 Category:Stabbing attacks in 2011 Category:August 2011 in Israel