tel aviv | Philip Belahsan, a 45-year-old from Ashdod, had taken a day off from work Monday, April 17, and was on an excursion with his two children to purchase gifts for Passover when he felt the explosive force of a nail-packed bomb.
Belahsan took his children into his arms and shielded them with his body.
His daughter Lital said, “As he fell on the floor he told my brothers not to worry, ‘I am in pain but don’t worry.'” Balahsan died on the way to the hospital from shrapnel that tore into his heart.
Radmila Shaulov, who is in her ninth month of pregnancy, had just entered the obstetric ward of a Tel Aviv hospital when she received a message that her husband — 29-year-old David Shaulov — had been killed in the same attack during a lunch break.
All told, nine people died and more than 40 were injured when a 21-year-old Palestinian man detonated a bomb at a falafel shop near Tel Aviv’s old Central Bus Station.
Pieces of ceiling dangled at the end of electrical cords hanging over the carnage below — lifeless bodies, pools of blood, the injured shouting for help. Though it was an all-too familiar scene, the attack was the worst on Israel in almost two years.
It was the second time the restaurant has been hit in four months, and both times Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility. This time, the Fatah movement’s al Aksa Martyr’s Brigades also claimed responsibility.
The bombing shattered the calm of the Passover holiday, a time when schoolchildren are on break and Israeli families visit relatives and friends, hosting barbecues in parks and by the sea.
The attack came just hours ahead of a swearing-in ceremony for the new Knesset. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert denounced the attack and assured his countrymen that Israel would know how to respond. Later, Israeli leaders hinted that the response would be mostly diplomatic, rather than military.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack, but it was excused by the authority’s Hamas leadership, which deemed it a legitimate response to Israeli actions. Palestinian militants demanded an apology from Abbas, while Islamic Jihad leaders promised to send another 70 suicide bombers into Israel.
Guy Sadeh was among the first at the scene, passing by on his way to pick up new business cards. He helped treat and calm the injured.
“I saw things no one should see,” Sadeh, 36, said as he lay on a hospital gurney while being treated for cuts on his right foot. His khaki pants were splattered with blood.
The blue awning of the restaurant sagged under its shattered glass sign. Red police tape was quickly strung up. The force of the blast sent debris flying 30 feet around. Passers-by wrangled for a closer look, and some took photos with cell phone cameras.
Fervently religious men from the Zaka rescue service, wearing plastic gloves, black suits and orange vests, picked through the debris searching for body parts and pieces of flesh to be buried with the bodies. One Zaka member climbed a ladder to sponge off a nearby pole.
Neveh Sha’anan, the southern Tel Aviv neighborhood where the attack took place, is a working-class area, home to many foreign workers. It has suffered six attacks since the intifada began in 2000.
In January, a suicide bombing at the same falafel stand killed just the bomber. The stand’s owners, three brothers, called the outcome a miracle and hired a security guard.
This time, the attack was much more devastating.
Rafi Ackler, 50, who owns a gift shop on the same block, said the bombing was bad for the country and bad for business.
“We were just beginning to recover from the other attack, when there was a drastic drop-off in business. We just started breathing again and this happens,” he said.
Noting the helicopters flying overhead and the cars in front of his shop that police had marked with an “X” — indicating that they’re not suspected of carrying explosives — he asked a friend, “What will be?”
Benny Schor, 42, who owns a printing press around the corner, said he’s too scared to eat out anymore.
“You never know when it is going to happen to you,” he said.
The Jerusalem Post contributed to this report.