Bahij Badr

Bahij Muhammad Mahmoud Badr headed the Hamas infrastructure in Beit Liqya that carried out the attacks at Café Hillel, Tzrifin, and the New Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv. He is regarded as a significant leader and a Palestinian symbol. He worked as an accountant for a charitable association in Ramallah. He was involved in the killing of approximately eighteen Israelis and the wounding of dozens of others, and was sentenced to 18 life terms. As head of the terrorist infrastructure, he received and provided training in the production of explosives, explosive devices, and explosive belts at the offices of the Islamic Workers Association in Ramallah. The offices also contained a hiding place where the cell’s weapons were concealed. Together with two other members of the cell, he established an explosives laboratory where they produced explosives and explosive belts. He also planned the development of remotely activated explosive devices and participated in attempts to manufacture silencers for small arms and Qassam rockets. Using the knowledge he had acquired, he produced the explosive belts and devices used in the attacks, recruited operatives, directed the cell’s activities, and prepared the suicide bombers before they departed to carry out the attacks. He was responsible, among other things, for three deadly bombing attacks between 2003 and 2004: ● A suicide bombing in Tzrifin on September 9, 2003, in which seven people were killed and 14 others were wounded. ● A suicide bombing at Café Hillel in Jerusalem on September 9, 2003, in which seven people were killed and 70 others were wounded. ● An explosive-device attack on Mount Zion Boulevard in Tel Aviv in July 2004, in which a soldier was killed and 24 civilians were wounded. When he was arrested, explosives, weapons, and explosive devices were found in his possession. The interrogations of other cell members revealed that he had been involved in recruiting additional suicide bombers and had planned further attacks in addition to those already carried out by the cell. Following his imprisonment, he has served as a member of the Hamas leadership in prison.