The bomber was 20-year-old Mahmoud Umdan Salim Qawasmeh, a student at the Palestine Polytechnic University.

An Israeli Arab resident of Haifa who helped plan the attack was also tried and sentenced to life imprisonment for his involvement.

[3] The attack occurred on 5 March 2003, when a suicide bomber from Hebron detonated a bomb hidden underneath his clothes on a bus carrying many children and teenagers on their way home from school.

[5] Police said the bomb, strapped to the bomber's body, was laden with metal shrapnel in order to maximize the number of injuries.

"[5] In response, Israeli helicopters killed Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Makadmeh and three of his bodyguards.