American Victims of Terrorist Attacks
(1970 - Present)
The following is a listing of incidents in which American citizens were wounded and killed in attacks worldwide carried out by Arab and Islamic terrorists. The exact number of American casualties is difficult to calculate because of incomplete or inaccurate news reports regarding the numbers and nationalities of those killed or injured.
The first Americans to be killed by Palestinian terrorists were probably the 12 killed during the 1929 riots.
Approximately 4,000 Americans have been killed in terrorist attacks since 1970, including the atrocities of September 11, 2001. Since Yasser Arafat signed the Oslo Peace Accords in September 1993, at least 71 Americans have been murdered and more than 81 injured by Palestinian terrorists. The list does not include American servicemembers killed on active duty.
Date | Location | Victims/Incident |
March 19, 2023 | West Bank | American-born Israeli David Stern, a former U.S. Marine, was shot and seriously wounded while driving through Huwara. |
February 27, 2023 | West Bank | Elan Ganeles, 27, was shot dead by a Palestinian terrorist on a highway between Jericho and the Dead Sea. |
November 23, 2022 | Jerusalem, Israel | Two blasts in Jerusalem killed one person and injured at least 13, including two Americans. |
August 14, 2022 | Jerusalem, Israel | Eight people were wounded when an Arab resident of Jerusalem opened fire as people boarded a bus. Five of the eight people wounded were Americans. |
May 5, 2019 | Ashdod, Israel | A rocket fired by terrorists from the Gaza Strip at Ashdod killed Pinchas Menachem Prezuazman, 21, a dual American-Israeli citizen, as he was running for shelter. |
August 17, 2017 | Barcelona, Spain | Driss Oukabir, a 28-year-old Moroccan who had been living in Spain, drove a rented van down a popular promenade crowded with tourists in Barcelona. Swerving back and forth on Las Ramblas, Oukabir tried to hit as many pedestrians and cause as much damage as possible. After crashing, the driver escaped, and a nationwide manhunt was mounted. It was the worst terror attack to hit Spain in over a decade, leaving 13 people dead and over 80 injured. Spanish police foiled a second vehicular attack hours later in the town of Cambrils, 70 miles South, during which six civilians and one police officer were injured. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks, although it was unclear what sort of contact the attackers had with the organization. An American on his honeymoon, Jared Tucker, was killed in the attack. |
March 23, 2017 | London, England | American citizen Kurt Cochran was killed by a terrorist in London while celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary. Kurt and his wife were the first pedestrians struck by a driver who suddenly swerved his SUV onto the sidewalk of Westminster Bridge and began mowing down innocent bystanders. Three other people were killed in the attack, including an unarmed British security guard who was stabbed by the assailant, 52-year-old Khalid Masood, after he exited his vehicle. |
January 8, 2017 | Jerusalem | Two out of four Israeli soldiers killed in a truck-ramming attack were U.S. citizens. Erez Orbach, 20, held U.S. citizenship through his mother, and Shira Tzur, 20, had American-born parents. The other two soldiers killed were Israeli citizens. |
August 3, 2016 | London, England | A U.S. citizen in her 60's was killed during a random knife attack by a 19-year-old Somali citizen of Norway in London's Russel Square. The U.S. victim was pronounced dead on the scene, and four others from Australia, Britain, the U.S., and Israel were taken to have non-life-threatening injuries treated. The suspect was arrested shortly after, and police believe that the attack was spontaneous in nature and there were no signs of traditional radicalization. |
July 14, 2016 | Nice, France | Sean Copeland (51) and his son Brodie (11) were killed in Nice, France, when a terrorist drove a large truck through a crowd of Bastille Day revelers for over a mile, killing 84 and wounding hundreds more. Sean and his son were from Austin, Texas, and were on a family vacation. Also killed was UC Berkeley student Nicolas Leslie (20), one of a group of 85 Berkeley students on a 15-day study-abroad trip in France. Three other students were injured in the attack. |
June 30, 2016 | Kiryat Arba | A 13-year-old Israeli girl, Hallel Yaffa Ariel, was stabbed to death in her bed by 19-year-old Palestinian Mohammad Tarayreh, who had broken into her home. The attacker was from a nearby village and climbed the fence into Kiryat Arba before breaking into Ariel's home and locking himself inside, where she was alone. A brigade of local residents, including Ariel's father, realized that the fence had been breached and searched the settlement, eventually finding the attacker, who was then killed by security personnel. The victim held dual U.S.-Israeli citizenship. |
June 12, 2016 | Orlando, FL | Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old security guard, killed 49 people and injured 53 others in a terror/hate crime attack on the Pulse LGBT nightclub in Orlando, Florida. This incident is the deadliest terror attack to happen in the United States since the attacks of September 11, 2001, as well as the deadliest mass shooting by a single shooter and the deadliest incident of violence against LGBT people in U.S. history. At approximately 2:00 a.m.. Mateen approached the doors to the club, violently bypassed the security guard, and began shooting randomly into the crowd of 300+ people. A 3-hour standoff and hostage situation began between Mateen and police, during which he routinely called 911 and told them he was the one shooting at the Pulse nightclub and swore allegiance to the Islamic State terror organization. Slightly before 6:00 a.m., the Orlando police department confirmed that Mateen had been killed during a bomb-squad raid on the establishment. Most of the victims were Hispanic or Latino, as the club was hosting a “Latin night.” |
March 9, 2016 | Brussels, Belgium | Salah Abdeslam, the mastermind of the November 13, 2015, attacks on Paris who evaded capture for months, was arrested in Brussels, Belgium on March 18, 2016. Four days later, three individuals carried out massive coordinated suicide attacks at the national airport and the Maelbeek train station, killing 31 and injuring more than 250. Two explosions, nine seconds apart, rocked the Brussels National Airport at 7:58 a.m. on March 22, 2016, sending shrapnel flying and causing portions of the roof to collapse. Ten people died in these initial explosions. Approximately one hour later, a third explosion was detonated on a train leaving the Maelbeek subway station in central Brussels, killing 20. Justin and Stephanie Shults, U.S.-born individuals who had been living in Belgium, as well as Sascha and Alexander Pinczowski, Dutch nationals who had been living in New York, were killed in the attack. |
March 9, 2016 | Jaffa Port | A Palestinian attacker began stabbing random Israelis at the entrance to the Jaffa Port and wounded four people before taking off away from Israeli security guards. The attacker continued to stab pedestrians and motorists as he ran down a residential street, seriously injuring three people before being shot and killed by police. One victim stabbed by the attacker, later identified as an American tourist Taylor Force died of his wounds in an Israeli hospital soon after the attack. Force, 28, was a U.S. Army veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan and was on a school-sponsored trip to Israel through Vanderbilt University. Although he was with a group of fellow students at the time of the stabbing, he was the only one injured. |
February 18, 2016 | Sha'ar Binyamin | Two teenage Palestinian boys entered a supermarket and stabbed two Israelis before being apprehended and shot by other customers in the store. One of the victims, an off-duty IDF soldier holding U.S. citizenship, 21-year-old Sergeant Tuvia Yanai Weissman, was killed. |
December 2, 2015 | San Bernardino, CA | A married couple, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, opened fire at a holiday party for the California Department of Health, where Farook was an employee, killing 14 people and injuring 22. After leaving their 6-month-old daughter at Malik's parents' house, Farook headed to his work's holiday party, where he enjoyed the company of his peers and posed for pictures. He left the party at approximately 10:30 a.m. and returned at 11:00 a.m. with his wife, both brandishing semi-automatic rifles. They opened fire on the attendees and fled the scene less than five minutes after starting the assault. A search for the couple commenced, and they were killed in an exchange of fire with police later that afternoon. Farook had left three homemade pipe bombs that failed to explode at the building where the party was held. |
November 19, 2015 | Bamako, Mali | Anita Datar, 41, was killed when terrorists took over the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, Mali on November 19, 2015. She was born in Massachusetts and grew up in New Jersey. Datar served in the Peace Corps in Senegal from 1997 to 1999 and worked in Mali on public health projects. |
November 19, 2015 | Gush Etzion | A Palestinian terrorist opened fire on cars stuck in a traffic jam in Gush Etzion, killing an Israeli, an American tourist, and a Palestinian and wounding seven others. Five of the wounded were American Yeshiva students. After the shooting, the terrorist sped off in a car but rammed into another car, attempted to flee on foot, and was then arrested by Israeli security forces. The American victim was identified later in the day as 18-year-old Ezra Schwartz from Massachusetts. |
November 13, 2015 | Paris, France | Twenty-three-year-old Nohemi Gonzalez was dining at a French cafe while on her study abroad program from California State University Long Beach when ISIS terrorists opened fire in the streets around her. Gonzalez was one of seventeen students from CSULB on the trip, all others of whom were accounted for. She was a victim of a coordinated attack carried out in 7 locations around Paris, in which 132 people were killed, and over 350 were seriously injured. |
November 9, 2015 | Amman, Jordan | A Jordanian police captain opened fire on a group of instructors at the Jordan International Police Training Center in Amman, killing five people, including two Americans. Thousands of security agents and police officers from around the world have trained at this facility over the years. In addition to the two U.S. victims, a South African contractor and two Jordanians were also killed in the shooting spree before the perpetrator was shot. The following day U.S. officials reported that 8 people had died in the attack, but Jordanian media insisted it was only 5 had been killed. The two Americans killed were employed by DynCorp International, a major global military contractor. |
October 13, 2015 | Jerusalem | Palestinian attackers stormed a bus in Jerusalem and blocked people from getting off while attempting to take control of the wheel and ram the bus into a crowded public place. One assailant opened fire with a gun while the other stabbed the bus passengers. Israeli police killed one attacker and managed to take the other into custody. Two individuals died on the scene, but one of the people injured in the attack, 76-year-old U.S. citizen Richard Lakin, died of his injuries two weeks after the attack. He had moved to Israel with his wife and two sons 32 years after a career as an Elementary School Principal in Connecticut. |
October 1, 2015 | West Bank | Eitan Henkin and his wife Naama (both early 30s) were ambushed by Palestinian gunmen as they drove with their four children, all under the age of 10, in the West Bank on October 1, 2015. The gunmen shot Eitan and Naama multiple times, and they were pronounced dead at the scene, while the children who had just witnessed their parents' murder were only lightly injured. They were buried the following day, and Eitan's parents stated at his funeral that they would raise the children as their own. The funeral was attended by Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, who delivered a eulogy. During the subsequent week, it was revealed that the husband, Eitan, was an American citizen, and five Hamas members were arrested in connection with the attack. |
November 17, 2014 | Jerusalem | Rabbi Moshe Twersky (60), Aryeh Kupinsky (43), and Rabbi Kalman Zeev Levine (55) were brutally murdered in a terrorist attack at Kehilat Yaakov Synagogue in Jerusalem during morning prayers. The terrorists, who it was later revealed were associated with the People’s Front for the Liberation of Palestine, entered the Synagogue at 7 a.m. armed with knives, meat cleavers, axes, and guns and began firing and slashing wildly at the individuals involved in prayers. A British-Israeli citizen named Avraham Shmuel Goldberg (68) was also killed in the attack, and six others sustained injuries, including two police officers. In response to this attack, Israel’s Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich announced that weapons-carrying restrictions would be temporarily eased for private security guards and off-duty IDF soldiers. |
October 22, 2014 | Jerusalem | Three-month-old U.S. citizen Chaya Zissel Braun was killed when a Palestinian individual with past Hamas associations and terrorist ties rammed his car into the Ammunition Hill light rail station. The attack injured 8 others. The parents of the child were US citizens who had moved to Israel to study in the Yeshiva. |
June 30, 2014 | Halhul, West Bank | Sixteen-year-old Naftali Frankel, a U.S. citizen, was one of three Israeli teenagers kidnapped and murdered while hitchhiking from a yeshiva in Gush Etzion. |
September 11, 2012 | Benghazi, Libya | Heavily armed Islamist militants stormed and burned the American Consulate, killing the United States ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens, and three others: Sean Smith, a Foreign Service officer, and Tyrone S. Woods and Glen A. Doherty, both former members of the Navy SEALs. |
March 18, 2012 | Taiz, Yemen | Two men on a motorcycle shot and killed an American English teacher working as the deputy director of a Swedish institute in the Yemeni city of Taiz. |
December 18, 2010 | Jerusalem, Israel | Kristine Luken, a U.S. citizen living in England and touring in Israel, was stabbed to death by Palestinian terrorists while hiking in the hills west of Jerusalem with a friend. In April 2017, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia released a statement that Luken's killers, Ayad Fatafta and Kifah Ghanimat, were each to face federal charges of murdering a U.S. national outside of the U.S. if they are to be released at any point from Israeli prison. |
September 3, 2010 | Dubai, UAE | A smoke bomb was responsible for the downing of a UPS Cargo Plane in Dubai. The plane was headed to Cologne, Germany. There were no ground casualties, but the two pilots - both Americans - were killed. One from Florida and one from Kentucky. |
November 5, 2009 | Fort Hood, Texas | Army Major Nidal Hassan fatally shot 13 people and injured 30, producing the most casualties of any mass shooting on a U.S. military base to date. Hassan had been brought to the attention of U.S. authorities approximately 6 months prior to the shooting after trying to contact Al-Qaeda and discussing suicide bombings and terrorist threats online. Nidal Hassan opened fire in the Soldier Readiness Center of Fort Hood and was shot in the spine and paralyzed following exchanges of fire with others around the base. The attack was allegedly motivated by Hassan's looming deployment to Afghanistan, where he was worried that he might have to kill fellow Muslims. |
June 1, 2009 | Arkansas, USA | Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, an American Muslim, opened fire on a U.S. military recruiting office. Private William Long was killed and Private Quinton Ezeagwula was wounded. |
September 12, 2006 | Damascus, Syria | Four attackers armed with grenades and machine guns attempt to storm the U.S. embassy in Damascus. Three of the gunmen and one Syrian guard are killed during a battle between the attackers and Syrian security forces. One Syrian employee of the embassy and at least ten bystanders are wounded. |
August 30, 2006 | San Francisco, USA | An Afghani Muslim hit 19 pedestrians, killing one, with his SUV in the San Francisco Bay area. |
April 17, 2006 | Tel Aviv, Israel | Homicide bombing at the Rosh Ha'ir restaurant: Daniel Wultz, 16, of Weston, Florida, died one month after receiving his wounds in this bombing. |
September 24, 2004 | Neve Dekalim, Gaza Strip | Mortar Strike on house: Tiferet Tratner, 24 (dual U.S.-Israeli citizenship). |
October 15, 2003 | Gaza Strip | The bombing of an American convoy: John Branchizio, 37, Mark Parson, 31, and John Martin Linde, 30, were on contract to the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv through the defense contracting company Dyncorp. U.S. citizens injured: One as-yet-unnamed U.S. citizen (reportedly a diplomat). |
September 9, 2003 | Jerusalem, Israel | Suicide Bombing: David Applebaum, 51, and his daughter Nava, 20, originally of Cleveland, were killed. |
August 19, 2003 | Jerusalem, Israel | U.S. citizens killed in a bus bombing: Goldie Taubenfeld, 43, of New Square, New York; Shmuel Taubenfeld, 3 months, of New Square, New York; Mordechai Reinitz, 49; Yitzhak Reinitz, 9. Tehilla Nathanson, 3, of Monsey, New York; U.S. citizens injured: Mendel Reinitz, 11. |
June 20, 2003 | West Bank | U.S. citizens killed in shooting attack: Tzvi Goldstein, 47, who grew up in New York; U.S. citizens injured: Eugene Goldstein, Tzvi’s father, of Long Island, New York; Lorraine Goldstein, Tzvi’s mother, of Long Island, New York; Michal Goldstein, Tzvi’s wife, who grew up in New York. |
June 11, 2003 | Jerusalem, Israel | U.S. citizens killed in a bus bombing: Alan Beer, 47, who grew up in Cleveland. U.S. citizens injured: Sarri Singer, 27, daughter of New Jersey State Senator Robert Singer. |
April 30, 2003 | Tel Aviv, Israel | U.S. citizens injured in a suicide bombing: Jack Baxter, 50, of New York City. |
March 7, 2003 | Kiryat Arba, West Bank | U.S. citizens killed in a shooting on their house: Rabbi Eli Horowitz, 52, who grew up in Chicago; Dina Horowitz, 50, who grew up in Florida |
March 5, 2003 | Haifa, Israel | Bus bombing. U.S. citizens killed: Abigail Leitel, 14, who was born in Lebanon, New Hampshire. |
July 31, 2002 | Jerusalem, Israel | Nine people were killed when a bomb exploded in the main cafeteria at the Hebrew University's Mount Scopus campus in Jerusalem. Five were U.S. citizens: Janis Ruth Coulter, 36, of MA; Marla Bennet, 24, of San Diego, CA; David Gritz (also a French citizen), 24, of Peru, MA; Benjamin Blutstein, 25, of Susquehanna Township, PA; and Dina Carter, 37, of NC. Israelis David Ladovsky, 29, and Levina Shapira, 53, also died in the bombing. U.S. citizens injured: Spencer Dew, 26, of Owensboro, Kentucky; Zeev Spencer; Harris Gershon; Jamie Harris. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. |
June 19, 2002 | Jerusalem, Israel | Gila Sara Kessler, 19, whose family came from New York, was killed in a bombing at a bus stop. |
June 18, 2002 | Jerusalem, Israel | Moshe Gottlieb, 70, of Los Angeles, CA was killed in a bus bombing in Jerusalem. |
March 31, 2002 | Efrat, Israel | Bombing in Efrat. U.S. citizens injured: An unidentified American citizen. |
March 27, 2002 | Netanya, Israel | U.S. citizen Hannah Rogen, 90, was killed in a suicide attack at a Passover Seder. |
March 24, 2002 | Ofra, Israel | Shooting near Ofra. U.S. citizens killed: Esther Kleinman, 23, formerly of Chicago, IL. |
March 21, 2002 | Jerusalem, Israel | A bombing on a Jerusalem street. U.S. citizens injured: Alan Joseph Bauer, 37, of Chicago, Yonathon Bauer, 7 (dual U.S.-Israeli citizenship). |
March 7, 2002 | Ariel, Israel | A Christian tourist from Arkansas lost her right eye in an attack by a suicide bomber on the Eshel Hashomron Hotel. |
February 25, 2002 | Jerusalem, Israel | Moran Amit, 25, was stabbed to death in Abu Tor Peace Forest in Jerusalem. |
February 19, 2002 | Neve Dekalim, Gaza Strip | Shooting. U.S. citizens injured: Moshe Saperstein of New York. |
February 16, 2002 | Karnei Shomron, West Bank | Bombing. U.S. citizens killed: Keren Shatsky, 14, of Brooklyn, NY, and Maine, Rachel Thaler, 16, of Baltimore, MD. U.S. citizens injured: Lior Thaler, 14, of Baltimore, MD, Hillel Trattner of Chicago, IL, Ronit Yucht Trattner of Chicago, IL, Chani Friedman of New York. |
February 15, 2002 | Ramallah, West Bank | Lee Akunis was shot to death. |
February 8, 2002 | Jerusalem, Israel | Stabbing in Abu Tor Peace Forest Jerusalem. U.S. citizen killed: Moranne Amit, 25 |
January 27, 2002 | Jerusalem, Israel | A Palestinian woman triggered a massive explosion in downtown Jerusalem killing one elderly Israeli and injuring more than 150, including American Mark Sokolow, his wife, and 16 and 12-year-old daughters. Sokolow had earlier survived the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center, escaping from his law office on the 38th floor of the South Tower before it collapsed. |
January 22, 2002 | Jerusalem, Israel | U.S. citizen injured in shooting attack: Shayna Gould, 19, of Chicago, IL |
January 18, 2002 | Hadera, Israel | U.S. citizen killed in shooting attack: Aaron Elis, 32, son of Chicago family. |
January 15, 2002 | Bethlehem, West Bank | Avraham Boaz, 71, of New York, a dual Israeli-American citizen, was kidnapped at a PA security checkpoint in Beit Jala and murdered. |
December 18, 2001 | Between Jerusalem & Shilo, Israel | U.S. citizens injured: David Rubin, 44, of Brooklyn, NY, Asher "Ruby" Rubin, 3. |
December 2, 2001 | Jerusalem, Israel | A bombing on Ben-Yehuda Street, Jerusalem. U.S. citizens injured: Ziv Brill, 17, of West Hempstead, Long Island, NY, Temima Spetner, 19, of St. Louis, MI, Jason Kirshenbaum of New Rochelle, NY, Israel Hirschfield, 18, Joseph Leifer, 29, of Borough Park (Brooklyn), NY. |
November 4, 2001 | Jerusalem, Israel | Shoshana Ben-Yishai, 16, of Queens, NY, was killed in a shooting at a bus station. U.S. citizen injured: Shlomo Kaye. |
September 11, 2001 | New York, Washington D.C., & Pennsylvania, USA | During a carefully coordinated attack, 19 Islamist extremists hijacked four U.S. jetliners and forced them to crash into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. In all, 266 people perished in the four planes, and more than 3,000 people were killed on the ground. U.S. investigators determined on the basis of extensive evidence that Osama bin Ladin's al-Qaida group was responsible for the attack. The first plane, American Airlines Flight 11, en route from Boston to Los Angeles, crashed into the World Trade Center's north tower at 8:48 a.m. Eighteen minutes later, United Airlines Flight 175, also headed from Boston to Los Angeles, smashed into the World Trade Center's south tower. At 9:40 a.m., a third airplane, an American Airlines Boeing 757 that left Washington's Dulles International Airport for Los Angeles, crashed into the western part of the Pentagon where 24,000 people worked. The fourth plane, a United Airlines Flight 93 flying from Newark to San Francisco, crashed near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, most likely before it could hit its target. Hundreds of firefighters, police officers, and other rescue workers who arrived at the site after the first plane crash were killed or injured. |
August 27, 2001 | Roglit, Israel | Shooting attack. U.S. citizen injured: Ben Dansker. |
August 18, 2001 | Jerusalem, Israel | Shooting at a bus. U.S. citizen injured: Andrew Feibusch of New York. |
August 9, 2001 | Jerusalem, Israel | A suicide bombing at Sbarro's, a pizzeria situated in one of the busiest areas of downtown Jerusalem, killed 15 people and wounded more than 90. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. U.S. citizens killed: Judith L. Greenbaum, 31, of New Jersey and California, and Malka Roth, 15, whose family was from New York. U.S. citizens injured: David Danzig, 21, of Wynnewood, PA, Matthew P. Gordon, 25, of New York, Joanne (Chana) Nachenberg, 31, Sara Shifra Nachenberg, 2. |
July 19, 2001 | Hebron, West Bank | Shooting attack. U.S. citizens injured: An unidentified woman from Brooklyn, NY. |
May 29, 2001 | Gush Etzion, West Bank | The Fatah Tanzim claimed responsibility for a drive-by shooting of six in the West Bank that killed two American-Israeli citizens, Samuel Berg and his mother, Sarah Blaustein. U.S. citizens injured: Norman Blaustein of Lawrence, NY. |
May 9, 2001 | Tekoa, West Bank | Kobi Mandell, 13, of Silver Spring, MD, an American-Israeli, was found stoned to death along with a friend in a cave near the Jewish settlement of Tekoa. Two organizations, the Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah-Palestine claimed responsibility for the attack. |
March 28, 2001 | Neve Yamin, Israel | Bombing at a bus stop. U.S. citizens injured: Netanel Herskovitz, 15, formerly of Hempstead, NY. |
December 31, 2000 | Ofra, Israel | Rabbi Binyamin Kahane, 34, and his wife, Talia Hertzlich Kahane, both formerly of Brooklyn, NY, were killed in a drive-by shooting. Their children, Yehudit Leah Kahane, Bitya Kahane, Tzivya Kahane, Rivka Kahane, and Shlomtsion Kahane, were injured in the attack. |
October 30, 2000 | Jerusalem, Israel | Gunmen killed Eish Kodesh Gilmor, a 25-year-old American-Israeli on duty as a security guard at the National Insurance Institute in Jerusalem. The "Martyrs of the Al-Aqsa Intifada," a group linked to Fatah, claimed responsibility for the attack. Gilmor's family filed a suit in the U.S. District Court in Washington against the Palestinian Authority, the PLO, Chairman Yasser Arafat, and members of Force 17, as being responsible for the attack. |
October 12, 2000 | Aden, Yemen | A suicide squad rammed the warship the U.S.S. Cole with an explosives-laden boat killing 13 American sailors and injuring 33. The attack was likely by Osama bin Ladin's al-Qaida organization. |
October 8, 2000 | Nablus, West Bank | The bullet-ridden body of Rabbi Hillel Lieberman, a U.S. citizen from Brooklyn living in the Jewish settlement of Elon Moreh, was found at the entrance to the West Bank town of Nablus. Lieberman had headed there after hearing that Palestinians had desecrated the religious site, Joseph's Tomb. No organization claimed responsibility for the murder. |
October 5, 2000 | Jerusalem, Israel | Attack on a motorist. U.S. citizens injured: Rabbi Chaim Brovender of Brooklyn. |
October 4, 2000 | Bethlehem, West Bank | U.S. citizens injured: An unidentified American tourist. |
September 29, 2000 | Jerusalem, Israel | Attack on taxi passengers. U.S. citizens injured: Tuvia Grossman of Chicago, Todd Pollack of Norfolk, VA, and Andrew Feibusch of New York. |
September 29, 2000 | Jerusalem, Israel | Attack on motorists. U.S. citizens injured: Avi Herman of Teaneck, NJ, Naomi Herman of Teaneck, NJ. |
November 12, 1999 | Islamabad, Pakistan | Six rockets were fired at the U.S. Information Services cultural center and United Nations offices in Islamabad, injuring a Pakistani guard. |
November 4, 1999 | Athens, Greece | A group protesting President Clinton's visit to Greece hid a gas bomb at an American car dealership in Athens. Two cars were destroyed and several others were damaged. Anti-State Action claimed responsibility for the attack, but the November 17 group was also suspected. |
October 31, 1999 | Massachusetts, USA | EgyptAir Flight 990 crashed off the U.S. coast, killing all 217 people on board, including 100 Americans. Although it is not precisely clear what happened, evidence indicated that an Egyptian pilot crashed the plane for personal or political reasons. |
December 28, 1998 | Mawdiyah, Yemen | Sixteen tourists--12 Britons, two Americans, and two Australians--were taken hostage in the largest kidnapping in Yemen's recent history. The tourists were seized in the Abyan province (some 175 miles south of Sanaa, the capital). One Briton and a Yemeni guide escaped, while the rest were taken to the city of Mawdiyah. Four hostages were killed when troops closed in, and two were wounded, including an American woman. The kidnappers, members of the Islamic Army of Aden-Abyan, an offshoot of Al-Jihad, had demanded the release from jail of their leader, Saleh Haidara al-Atwi. |
November 21, 1998 | Tehran, Iran | Members of Fedayeen Islam, shouting anti-American slogans and wielding stones and iron rods, attacked a group of American tourists in Tehran. Some of the tourists suffered minor injuries from flying glass. |
August 7, 1998 | Dar es Sala'am, Tanzania | A car bomb exploded outside the U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam, killing 11 and injuring 86. Osama bin Laden's organization al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the attack. Two suspects were arrested. |
June 21, 1998 | Beirut, Lebanon | Three rocket-propelled grenades attached to a crude detonator exploded near the U.S. Embassy compound in Beirut, causing no casualties and little damage. August 7, 1998, Nairobi, Kenya. A car bomb exploded at the rear entrance of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi. The attack killed a total of 292, including 12 U.S. citizens, and injured over 5,000, among them six Americans. The perpetrators belonged to al-Qaida, Usama bin Ladin's network. |
April 19, 1998 | Maon, Israel | Dov Driben, a 28-year-old American-Israeli farmer, was killed by terrorists near the West Bank town of Maon. One of his assailants, Issa Debavseh, a member of Fatah Tanzim, was killed on November 7, 2001, by the IDF after being on their wanted list for the murder. |
February 6, 1998 | Jerusalem, Israel | Stabbing in Jerusalem. U.S. Citizen Yosef Lepon, 17 injured. |
November 25, 1997 | Aden, Yemen | Yemenite tribesmen kidnapped a U.S citizen, two Italians, and two unspecified Westerners near Aden to protest the eviction of a tribe member from his home. The kidnappers released the five hostages on November 27. |
November 12, 1997 | Karachi, Pakistan | Two unidentified gunmen shot to death four U.S. auditors from Union Texas Petroleum and their Pakistani driver as they drove away from the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi. Two groups claimed responsibility -- the Islamic Inqilabi Council, or Islamic Revolutionary Council, and the Aimal Secret Committee, also known as the Aimal Khufia Action Committee. |
October 30, 1997 | Sanaa, Yemen | Al-Sha'if tribesmen kidnapped a U.S. businessman near Sanaa. The tribesmen sought the release of two fellow tribesmen who were arrested on smuggling charges and several public works projects they claimed the government promised them. The hostage was released on November 27. |
September 4, 1997 | Jerusalem, Israel | A bombing on Ben-Yehuda Street, Jerusalem. U.S. citizens killed: Yael Botwin, 14, of Los Angeles and Jerusalem. U.S. citizens injured: Diana Campuzano of New York, Abraham Mendelson of Los Angeles, CA, Greg Salzman of New Jersey, Stuart E. Hersh of Kiryat Arba, Israel, Michael Alzer, Abraham Elias, David Keinan, Daniel Miller of Boca Raton, FL, Noam Rozenman of Jerusalem, Jenny (Yocheved) Rubin of Los Angeles, CA. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. |
July 30, 1997 | Jerusalem, Israel | Two bombs detonated in Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market, killing 15 persons, including a U.S. citizen, and wounding 168 others, among them two U.S. citizens. The Izz-el-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, claimed responsibility for the attack. U.S. citizens killed: Mrs. Leah Stern of Passaic, NJ. U.S. citizens injured: Dov Dalin. |
February 23, 1997 | New York, USA | A Palestinian gunman opened fire on tourists at an observation deck atop the Empire State Building in New York, killing a Danish national and wounding visitors from the United States, Argentina, Switzerland, and France before turning the gun on himself. A handwritten note carried by the gunman claimed this was a punishment attack against the "enemies of Palestine." |
January 2, 1997 | Washington, DC, New York, London & Riyadh | A series of letter bombs with Alexandria, Egypt postmarks were discovered at Al-Hayat newspaper bureaus in Washington, DC, New York, London, and Riyadh. Three similar devices also postmarked in Egypt, were found at a prison facility in Leavenworth, Kansas. Bomb disposal experts defused all the devices, but one detonated at the Al-Hayat newspaper office in London, injuring two security guards and causing minor damage. |
December 3, 1996 | Paris, France | A bomb exploded aboard a Paris subway train, killing four and injuring 86 persons, including a U.S. citizen. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but Algerian extremists are suspected. |
November 1, 1996 | Sudan | A breakaway group of the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA) kidnapped three workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), including one U.S. citizen. The rebels released the hostages on December 9 in exchange for ICRC supplies and a health survey of their camp. |
August 17, 1996 | Mapourdit, Sudan | Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) rebels kidnapped six missionaries in Mapourdit, including a U.S. citizen. The SPLA released the hostages on August 28. |
June 25, 1996 | Dhahran, Saudi Arabia | A fuel truck carrying a bomb exploded outside the U.S. military's Khobar Towers housing facility in Dhahran, killing 19 U.S. military personnel and wounding 515 persons, including 240 U.S. personnel. Several groups claimed responsibility for the attack. In June 2001, a U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, identified Saudi Hizballah as the party responsible for the attack. The court indicated that the members of the organization, banned from Saudi Arabia, "frequently met and were trained in Lebanon, Syria, or Iran" with Libyan help. |
June 9, 1996 | Zekharya, West Bank | Yaron Ungar, an American-Israeli, and his Israeli wife were killed in a drive-by shooting near their West Bank home. The PFLP is suspected. |
May 13, 1996 | Beit-El, West Bank | Arab gunmen opened fire on a hitchhiking stand near Beit El, wounding three Israelis and killing David Boim, 17, an American-Israeli from New York. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, although either the Islamic Jihad or Hamas are suspected. U.S. citizens injured: Moshe Greenbaum, 17. |
March 4, 1996 | Tel Aviv, Israel | A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device outside the Dizengoff Center, Tel Aviv's largest shopping mall, killing 20 persons and injuring 75 others, including two U.S. citizens. Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombing. U.S. citizens injured included Julie K. Negrin of Seattle, WA. |
February 25, 1996 | Jerusalem, Israel | A suicide bomber blew up a commuter bus in Jerusalem, killing 26, including three U.S. citizens, and injuring 80 others, among them three other U.S. citizens. Hamas claimed responsibility for the bombing. U. S. citizens killed: Sara Duker, of Teaneck, NJ, Matthew Eisenfeld of West Hartford, CT, Ira Weinstein of Bronx, NY. U.S. citizens injured: Beatrice Kramer, Steven Lapides, and Leah Stein Mousa. |
November 13, 1995 | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | A car bomb exploded in the parking lot outside of the Riyadh headquarters of the Office of the Program Manager/Saudi Arabian National Guard, killing seven persons, five of them U.S. citizens, and wounding 42. The blast severely damaged the three-story building, which houses a U.S. military advisory group, and several neighboring office buildings. Three groups -- the Islamic Movement for Change, the Tigers of the Gulf, and the Combatant Partisans of God -- claimed responsibility for the attack. |
November 9, 1995 | Algiers, Algeria | Islamic extremists set fire to a warehouse belonging to the U.S. Embassy, threatened the Algerian security guard because he was working for the United States, and demanded to know whether any U.S. citizens were present. The Armed Islamic Group (GIA) probably carried out the attacks. The group had threatened to strike other foreign targets and especially U.S. objectives in Algeria, and the attack's style was similar to past GIA operations against foreign facilities. |
September 9, 1995 | Ma'ale Michmash, Israel | American killed: Unborn child of Mrs. Mara Frey of Chicago. Mara Frey was injured. |
August 21, 1995 | Jerusalem, Israel | A bus bombing in Jerusalem by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) killed four, including American Joan Davenny of New Haven, CT, and wounded more than 100. U.S. citizens injured: Chanoch Bleier, Judith Shulewitz, Bernard Batta. |
August 1995, | Istanbul, Turkey | A bombing of Istanbul's popular Taksim Square injured two U.S. citizens. This attack was part of a three-year-old attempt by the PKK to drive foreign tourists away from Turkey by striking at tourist sites. |
July 4, 1995 | Kashmir, India | In Kashmir, a previously unknown militant group, Al-Faran, with suspected links to a Kashmiri separatist group in Pakistan, took hostage six tourists, including two U.S. citizens. They demanded the release of Muslim militants held in Indian prisons. One of the U.S. citizens escaped on July 8, while on August 13, the decapitated body of the Norwegian hostage was found along with a note stating that the other hostages also would be killed if the group's demands were not met. The Indian Government refused. Both Indian and American authorities believe the rest of the hostages were most likely killed in 1996 by their jailers. |
June 15, 1995 | Jerusalem, Israel | U.S. citizen Howard Tavens of Cleveland, OH was injured in a stabbing attack. |
April 9, 1995 | Kfar Darom and Netzarim, Gaza Strip | Two suicide attacks were carried out within a few hours of each other in Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip. In the first attack, a suicide bomber crashed an explosive-rigged van into an Israeli bus in Netzarim, killing eight including U.S. citizen Alisa Flatow, 20, of West Orange, NJ. More than 30 others were injured. In the second attack, a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb in the midst of a convoy of cars in Kfar Darom, injuring 12. The Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Shaqaqi Faction claimed responsibility for the attacks. U.S. citizens Chava Levine and Seth Klein were injured. |
March 8, 1995 | Karachi, Pakistan | Two unidentified gunmen armed with AK-47 assault rifles opened fire on a U.S. Consulate van in Karachi, killing two U.S. diplomats, Jacqueline Keys Van Landingham and Gary C. Durell, and wounding a third, Mark McCloy. |
October 9, 1994 | Jerusalem, Israel | Shooting attack on cafe-goers in Jerusalem. U.S. citizens Scot Doberstein and Eric Goldberg were injured. |
October 9, 1994 | Ramallah, West Bank | Nachshon Wachsman, 19, whose family came from New York, was kidnapped and then murdered by Hamas. |
December 1, 1993 | Jerusalem, Israel | Yitzhak Weinstock, 19, whose family came from Los Angeles, CA, was killed in a drive-by shooting. Hamas took responsibility for the attack |
October 26, 1993 | Cairo, Egypt | Two Americans, Coby M. Hoffman and Robert L. Guidi, were killed by a gunman in a terror attack on a coffee shop in the Semiramis Inter-Continental Hotel in Cairo, Egypt. The two were engineers hired as consultants by the Egyptian government to assess the feasibility of a pipeline for a potential gas deal with Israel and were due to travel to Tel Aviv two days after the attack. |
July 5, 1993 | Southeast Turkey | In eight separate incidents, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) kidnapped a total of 19 Western tourists traveling in southeastern Turkey. The hostages, including U.S. citizen Colin Patrick Starger, were released unharmed after spending several weeks in captivity. |
February 26, 1993 | New York, USA | A massive van bomb exploded in an underground parking garage below the World Trade Center in New York City, killing six and wounding 1,042. Four Islamist activists were responsible for the attack. Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, the operation's alleged mastermind, escaped but was later arrested in Pakistan and extradited to the United States. Abd al-Hakim Murad, another suspected conspirator, was arrested by local authorities in the Philippines and handed over to the United States. The two, along with two other terrorists, were tried in the U.S. and sentenced to 240 years. |
February 26, 1993 | Cairo, Egypt | A bomb exploded inside a café in downtown Cairo killing three. Among the 18 wounded were two U.S. citizens. No one claimed responsibility for the attack. |
January 25, 1993 | Virginia, USA | A Pakistani gunman opened fire on Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employees standing outside of the building. Two agents, Frank Darling and Bennett Lansing, were killed and three others wounded. The assailant was never caught and reportedly fled to Pakistan. |
November 8, 1991 | Beirut, Lebanon | A 100-kg car bomb destroyed the administration building of the American University in Beirut, killing one person and wounding at least a dozen. |
October 28, 1991 | Istanbul, Turkey | Two car bombings killed a U.S. Air Force sergeant and severely wounded an Egyptian diplomat in Istanbul. Turkish Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility. |
October 28, 1991 | Ankara, Turkey | Victor Marwick, an American soldier serving at the Turkish-American base, Tuslog, was killed and his wife wounded in a car bomb attack. The Turkish Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. |
February 28, 1991 | Izmir, Turkey | Two Dev Sol gunmen shot and wounded a U.S. Air Force officer as he entered his residence in Izmir. |
February 7, 1991 | Incirlik Air Base, Turkey | Dev Sol members shot and killed a U.S. civilian contractor as he was getting into his car at the Incirlik Air Base in Adana, Turkey. |
October 11, 1989 | Izmir, Turkey | An explosive charge went off outside a U.S. military PX. Dev Sol was held responsible for the attack. |
July 6, 1989 | Between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Israel | A member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad seized control of the steering wheel of a crowded bus en route from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and drove the bus off a cliff in the area of Kiryat Ye'arim. 16 civilians were killed, including two Canadians and one American. |
June 12, 1989 | Bosphorus Straits, Turkey | A bomb exploded aboard an unoccupied boat used by U.S. consular staff. The explosion caused extensive damage but no casualties. An organization previously unknown, the Warriors of the June 16th Movement, claimed responsibility for the attack. |
March 6, 1989 | Cairo, Egypt | Two explosive devices were safely removed from the grounds of the American and British Cultural centers in Cairo. Three organizations were believed to be responsible for the attack: The January 15 organization, which had sent a letter bomb to the Israeli ambassador to London in January; the Egyptian Revolutionary Organization that from out 1984-1986 carried out attacks against U.S. and Israeli targets; and the Nasserite Organization, which had attacked British and American targets in 1988. |
January 27, 1989 | Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey | Three simultaneous bombings were carried out against U.S. business targets--the Turkish American Businessmen Association and the Economic Development Foundation in Istanbul, and the Metal Employees Union in Ankara. The Dev Sol (Revolutionary Left) was held responsible for the attacks. |
December 21, 1988 | Lockerbie, Scotland | Pan Am Flight 103, departing from Frankfurt to New York, was blown up in midair, killing all 259 passengers and another 11 people on the ground in Scotland. Two Libyan agents were found responsible for planting a sophisticated suitcase bomb onboard the plane. On 14 November 1991, arrest warrants were issued for Al-Amin Khalifa Fahima and Abdel Baset Ali Mohamed al-Megrahi. After Libya refused to extradite the suspects to stand trial, the United Nations leveled sanctions against the country in April 1992, including the freezing of Libyan assets abroad. In 1999, Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi agreed to hand over the two suspects, but only if their trial was held in a neutral country and presided over by a Scottish judge. With the help of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah, Al-Megrahi and Fahima were finally extradited and tried in Camp Zeist in the Netherlands. Megrahi was found guilty and jailed for life, while Fahima was acquitted due to a "lack of evidence" of his involvement. After the extradition, UN sanctions against Libya were automatically lifted. |
February 17, 1988 | Ras-Al-Ein Tyre, Lebanon | Col. William Higgins, the American chief of the United Nations Truce Supervisory Organization, was abducted by Hizballah while driving from Tyre to Nakura. The hostages demanded the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon and the release of all Palestinian and Lebanese-held prisoners in Israel. The U.S. government refused to answer the request. Hizballah later claimed they killed Higgins. |
October 21, 1986 | Beirut, Lebanon | Hizballah kidnapped Edward A. Tracy, an American citizen in Beirut. He was released five years later, in August 1991. |
October 15, 1986 | Jerusalem, Israel | Gali Klein, an American citizen, was killed in a grenade attack by Fatah at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. |
September 9, 1986 | Beirut, Lebanon | Continuing its anti-American attacks, Hizballah kidnapped Frank Reed, director of the American University in Beirut, whom they accused of being "a CIA agent." He was released 44 months later. September 12, 1986, Beirut, Lebanon. Hizballah kidnapped Joseph Cicippio, the acting comptroller at the American University in Beirut. Cicippio was released five years later on December 1991. |
September 5, 1986 | Karachi, Pakistan | Abu Nidal members hijacked a Pan Am flight leaving Karachi, Pakistan bound for Frankfurt, Germany, and New York with 379 passengers, including 89 Americans. The terrorists forced the plane to land in Larnaca, Cyprus, where they demanded the release of two Palestinians and a Briton jailed for the murder of three Israelis there in 1985. The terrorists killed 22 of the passengers, including two American citizens and wounded many others. They were caught and indicted by a Washington grand jury in 1991. |
April 5, 1986 | West Berlin, Germany | An explosion at the "La Belle" nightclub in Berlin, frequented by American soldiers, killed three--2 U.S. soldiers and a Turkish woman-and wounded 191, including 41 U.S. soldiers. Given the evidence of Libyan involvement, the U.S. Air Force made a retaliatory attack against Libyan targets on April 17. Libya refused to hand over to Germany five suspects believed to be there. Others, however, were tried, including Yassir Shraidi and Musbah Eter, arrested in Rome in August 1997 and extradited; and also Ali Chanaa, his wife, Verena Chanaa, and her sister, Andrea Haeusler. Shraidi, accused of masterminding the attack, was sentenced to 14 years in jail. The Libyan diplomats Musbah Eter and Ali Chanaa were both sentenced to 12 years in jail. Verena Chanaa was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Andrea Haeusler was acquitted. |
March 30, 1986 | Athens, Greece | A bomb exploded on a TWA flight from Rome as it approached Athens airport. The attack killed four U.S. citizens who were sucked through a hole made by the blast, although the plane safely landed. The bombing was attributed to the Fatah Special Operations Group's intelligence and security apparatus, headed by Abdullah Abd al-Hamid Labib, alias Colonel Hawari. |
December 27, 1985 | Rome, Italy | Four terrorists from Abu Nidal's organization attacked El Al offices at the Leonardo di Vinci Airport in Rome. Thirteen people, including five Americans, were killed and 74 wounded, among them two Americans. The terrorists had come from Damascus and were supported by the Syrian regime. |
October 7, 1985 | Between Alexandria, Egypt and Haifa, Israel | A four-member PFLP squad took over the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro as it was sailing from Alexandria, Egypt, to Israel. The squad murdered a disabled U.S. citizen, Leon Klinghoffer, by throwing him in the ocean. The rest of the passengers were held hostage for two days and later released after the terrorists turned themselves into Egyptian authorities in return for safe passage. But U.S. Navy fighters intercepted the Egyptian aircraft flying the terrorists to Tunis and forced it to land at the NATO airbase in Italy, where the terrorists were arrested. Two of the terrorists were tried in Italy and sentenced to prison. The Italian authorities, however, let the two others escape on diplomatic passports. Abu Abbas, who masterminded the hijacking, was later convicted to life imprisonment in absentia. |
June 14, 1985 | Between Athens and Rome | Two Hizballah members hijacked a TWA flight en route to Rome from Athens and forced the pilot to fly to Beirut. The terrorists believed to belong to Hizballah, asked for the release of members of the group Kuwait 17 and 700 Shi'ite prisoners held in Israeli and South Lebanese prisons. The eight crewmembers and 145 passengers were held for 17 days, during which one of the hostages, Robert Stethem, a U.S. Navy diver, was murdered. After being flown twice to Algiers, the aircraft returned to Beirut, and the hostages were released. Later on, four Hizballah members were secretly indicted. One of them, the Hizballah senior officer Imad Mughniyah, was indicted in absentia. |
December 4, 1984 | Tehran, Iran | Hizballah terrorists hijacked a Kuwait Airlines plane en route from Dubai, United Emirates, to Karachi, Pakistan. They demanded the release from Kuwaiti jails of members of Da'Wa, a group of Shiite extremists serving sentences for attacks on French and American targets on Kuwaiti territory. The terrorists forced the pilot to fly to Tehran, where the terrorists murdered two passengers--American Agency for International Development employees Charles Hegna and William Stanford. Although an Iranian special unit ended the incident by storming the plane and arresting the terrorists, the Iranian government might also have been involved in the hijacking. |
September 20, 1984 | Aukar, Lebanon | Islamic Jihad detonated a van full of explosives 30 feet in front of the U.S. Embassy annex, severely damaging the building, killing two U.S. servicemen and seven Lebanese employees, as well as 5 to 15 non-employees. Twenty Americans were injured, including U.S. Ambassador Reginald Bartholomew and visiting British Ambassador David Miers. An estimated 40 to 50 Lebanese were hurt. The attack came in response to the U.S. veto on September 6 of a U.N. Security Council resolution. |
September 20, 1984 | Beirut, Lebanon | A suicide bomb attack on the U.S. Embassy in East Beirut killed 23 people and injured 21. The American and British ambassadors were slightly injured in the attack, attributed to the Iranian-backed Hizballah group. |
April 12, 1984 | Torrejon, Spain | Hizballah bombed a restaurant near a U.S. Air Force base in Torrejon, Spain, wounding 83 people. |
March 16, 1984 | Beirut, Lebanon | Hizballah kidnapped William Buckley, a political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. Buckley was supposed to be exchanged for prisoners. However, when the transaction failed to take place, he was reportedly transported to Iran. Although his body was never found, the U.S. administration declared the American diplomat dead. |
March 8, 1984 | Beirut, Lebanon | Three Hizballah members kidnapped Reverend Benjamin T. Weir, while he was walking with his wife in Beirut's Manara neighborhood. Weir was released after 16 months of captivity with Syrian and Iranian assistance. |
March 7, 1984 | Beirut, Lebanon | Hizballah members kidnapped Jeremy Levin, Beirut bureau chief of Cable News Network (CNN). Levin managed to escape and reach Syrian army barracks. He was later transferred to American hands. |
January 18, 1984 | Beirut, Lebanon | Malcolm Kerr, a Lebanese born American who was president of the American University of Beirut, was killed by two gunmen outside his office. Hizballah said the assassination was part of the organization's plan to "drive all Americans out from Lebanon." |
December 19, 1983 | Jerusalem, Israel | Serena Sussman, a 60-year-old tourist from Anderson, South Carolina, died from injuries from the PLO bombing of a bus in Jerusalem 13 days earlier. |
October 23, 1983 | Beirut, Lebanon | A truck loaded with a bomb crashed into the lobby of the U.S. Marines headquarters in Beirut, killing 241 soldiers and wounding 81. The attack was carried out by Hizballah with the help of Syrian intelligence and financed by Iran. |
September 29, 1983 | Beirut, Lebanon | Two American marines were kidnapped by Amal members. They were released after intervention by a Lebanese army officer. |
July 1, 1983 | Hebron, West Bank | Aharon Gross, 19, an American-Israeli from New York, was stabbed to death by PLO terrorists in the Hebron marketplace. |
April 18, 1983 | Beirut, Lebanon | A truck-bomb detonated by a remote control exploded in front of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, killing 63 employees, including the CIA's Middle East director, and wounding 120. Hizballah, with financial backing from Iran, was responsible for the attack. |
March 16, 1983 | Beirut, Lebanon | Five American Marines were wounded in a hand grenade attack while on patrol north of Beirut International Airport. The Islamic Jihad and Al-Amal, a Shi'ite militia, claimed responsibility for the attack |
August 19, 1982 | Paris, France | Two American citizens, Anne Van Zanten and Grace Cutler, were killed when the PLO bombed a Jewish restaurant in Paris. |
July 19, 1982 | Beirut, Lebanon | Hizballah members kidnapped David Dodge, acting president of the American University in Beirut. After a year in captivity, Dodge was released. Rifat Assad, head of Syrian Intelligence, helped in the negotiation with the terrorists. |
May 2, 1980 | Hebron, West Bank | Eli Haze'ev, an American-Israeli from Alexandria, Virginia, was killed in a PLO attack on Jewish worshippers walking home from a synagogue in Hebron. |
November 4, 1979 | Tehran, Iran | After President Carter agreed to admit the Shah of Iran into the U.S., Iranian radicals seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took 66 American diplomats hostage. Thirteen hostages were soon freed, but the remaining 53 were held until their release on January 20, 1981. |
May 4, 1979 | Tiberias, Israel | Haim Mark and his wife, Haya, of New Haven, Connecticut were injured in a PLO bombing attack in northern Israel. |
June 2, 1978 | Jerusalem, Israel | Richard Fishman, a medical student from Maryland, was among six killed in a PLO bus bombing in Jerusalem. Chava Sprecher, another American citizen from Seattle, Washington, was injured. |
March 11, 1978 | Tel Aviv, Israel | Gail Rubin, niece of U.S. Senator Abraham Ribicoff, was among 38 people shot to death by PLO terrorists on an Israeli beach. |
January 1, 1977 | Beirut, Lebanon | Frances E. Meloy, U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, and Robert O.Waring, the U.S. economic counselor, were kidnapped by PFLP members as they crossed a militia checkpoint separating the Christian from the Muslim parts of Beirut. They were later shot to death. |
August 11, 1976 | Istanbul, Turkey | The PFLP launched an attack on the terminal of Israel's major airline, El Al, at the Istanbul airport. Four civilians, including Harold Rosenthal of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, were killed and 20 injured. |
November 21, 1975 | Ramat Hamagshimim, Israel | Michael Nadler, an American-Israeli from Miami Beach, Florida, was killed when axe-wielding terrorists from the Democrat Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a PLO faction, attacked students in the Golan Heights. |
November 14, 1975 | Jerusalem, Israel | Lola Nunberg, 53, of New York, was injured during a bombing attack in downtown Jerusalem. Fatah claimed responsibility for the bombing, which killed six people and wounded 38. |
June 29, 1975 | Beirut, Lebanon | The PFLP kidnapped the U.S. military attaché to Lebanon, Ernest Morgan, and demanded food, clothing and building materials for indigent residents living near Beirut harbor. The American diplomat was released after an anonymous benefactor provided food to the neighborhood. |
September 8, 1974 | Athens, Greece | TWA Flight 841, flying from Tel Aviv to New York, made a scheduled stop in Athens. Shortly after takeoff, it crashed into the Ionian Sea and all 88 passengers were killed, including 32-year-old Steven R. Lowe, husband Jeremiah Michel and wife, Kathrine Hadley Michel of Poughkeepsie, NY, Frederick and Margaret Hare of Bernardsville, NJ, Ralph H. Bosh of Madison, CT, Seldon and Etan Bard of Tuckahoe, NY, Dr. and Mrs. Frederick Stohlman of Newton, MA, Don H. Holiday of Mahwah, NJ, and Jon L. Chesire of Old Lyme, Ct; all of which were American citizens. An investigation of the crash conclusively established that it was caused by explosives set in the rear cargo department of the plane. |
August 5, 1973 | Athens, Greece | Black September terrorists staged an assault on passengers near the TWA lounge at the Athens International Airport. Three people, including Americans Elbert Kersen and Jeannie Salandi were killed. |
March 2, 1973 | Khartoum, Sudan | Cleo A. Noel, Jr., U.S. ambassador to Sudan, and George C. Moore, also a U.S. diplomat, were held hostage and then killed by terrorists at the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum. It seems likely that Fatah was responsible for the attack. |
September 5, 1972 | Munich, Germany | During the Olympic Games in Munich, Black September, a front for Fatah, took hostage 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team. Nine athletes were killed, including weightlifter David Berger, an American-Israeli from Cleveland, Ohio. |
May 30, 1972 | Ben Gurion Airport, Israel | Three members of the Japanese Red Army, acting on the PFLP's behalf, carried out a machine-gun and grenade attack at Israel's main airport, killing 26 and wounding 78 people. Many of the casualties were American citizens, mostly from Puerto Rico. |
September 14, 1970 | Amman, Jordan | The PFLP hijacked a TWA flight from Zurich, Switzerland, and forced it to land in Amman. Four American citizens were injured. |
March 28-29, 1970 | Beirut, Lebanon | The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) fired seven rockets at the U.S. Embassy, the American Insurance Company, Bank of America, and the John F. Kennedy Library. |
February 23, 1970 | Halhoul, West Bank | Palestinian Liberation Organization terrorists opened fire on a busload of pilgrims killing Barbara Ertle of Michigan and wounding two other Americans. |
Sources: List compiled by Caroline Taillandier (GLORIA Center); Dr. Mitchell Bard, Alden Oreck, Avi Hein, Elihai Braun, Jason Levine (American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise); and Paul Teller (House Republican Study Committee).
President Herbert Hoover’s News Conference,
(August 27, 1929), Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States - Herbert Hoover, 1929, (DC: GPO, 1974), p. 186-187, FN 1.
Chronology on Terrorist Incidents 1961-2001, State Department; Patterns of Terrorism
reports 1995-2000.
State Department Institute for Counter-Terrorism Database.
Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya.
Peacewatch, The Washington Institute for New East Policy.
AIPAC.
Ha'aretz.
Republican Study Committee.
Philissa Cramer, “5 Americans, including New Yorkers, among 8 shot in Jerusalem terror attack,” JTA, (August 14, 2022).
“West Bank terror victim named as Israeli-American Elan Ganeles,” Times of Israel, (February 28, 2023).
Emanuel Fabian, “Israeli, an ex-US Marine, seriously wounded in West Bank shooting; terrorist caught,” Times of Israel, (March 19, 2023).