The Mehola Junction bombing (also known as the Beit El bombing, literally, the House of God bombing) was the first suicide car bomb attack carried out by Palestinian militants and took place on April 16, 1993.

Hamas bombmaker Yahya Ayyash

Yahya Ayyash

Yahya Abd-al-Latif Ayyash was the chief bombmaker of Hamas and the leader of the West Bank battalion of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...

 rigged a Volkswagen Transporter

Volkswagen Transporter

The Volkswagen Transporter, based on the Volkswagen Group's T platform, now in its fifth generation, refers to a series of vans produced over 60 years and marketed worldwide....

 using three large propane

Propane

Propane is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula , normally a gas, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used as a fuel for engines, oxy-gas torches, barbecues, portable stoves, and residential central...

 tanks and explosives collected from grenade

Grenade

A grenade is a small explosive device that is projected a safe distance away by its user. Soldiers called grenadiers specialize in the use of grenades. The term hand grenade refers any grenade designed to be hand thrown. Grenade Launchers are firearms designed to fire explosive projectile grenades...

s and other ordinance. The bomb was connected to a detonator switch in the driver's controls.

Hamas operative Saher Tamam al-Nabulsi drove the car to Mehola Junction, a rest area

Rest area

A rest area, travel plaza, rest stop, or service area is a public facility, located next to a large thoroughfare such as a highway, expressway, or freeway at which drivers and passengers can rest, eat, or refuel without exiting on to secondary roads...

 on the Jordan Valley Highway in the West Bank

West Bank

The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...

. Just after 1:00 AM, the car exploded between two buses, one civilian and one military. The blast killed al-Nabulsi and Marwan Ghani, a Palestinian from the nearby village of Bardala

Bardala

Bardala is a Palestinian village of 1,600 inhabitants in the Tubas Governorate, located thirteen kilometers northeast of Tubas and 28 kilometers northeast of Nablus.-History:...

who worked in a snack bar in Mehola. Ghani's brother and eight Israeli soldiers were slightly injured.