Cave of the Patriarchs massacre — mass shooting committed by American-Israeli Baruch Goldstein
The massacre killed 29 Palestinian worshippers in Hebron, severely damaged the Oslo peace process, and led to the banning of the Kach party in Israel.
Key Facts
- Date
- 25 February 1994
- Killed in mosque
- 29 people
- Wounded in mosque
- 125 people
- Subsequent clashes killed
- 20–26 Palestinians, 9 Israeli Jews people
- Perpetrator
- Baruch Goldstein, American-Israeli physician
- Kach party outcome
- Banned and designated a terrorist organization by Israel
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Baruch Goldstein, a member of the far-right ultranationalist Kach movement, held extremist anti-Palestinian views. The attack took place during a religiously charged overlap of the Jewish holiday of Purim and the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, at a site sacred to both faiths, amplifying existing tensions in Hebron.
On 25 February 1994, Goldstein entered the Ibrahimi Mosque at the Cave of the Patriarchs dressed in Israeli army uniform and opened fire on Palestinian worshippers with an assault rifle, killing 29 people — including children as young as 12 — and wounding 125 others before being overpowered and beaten to death by survivors.
The massacre triggered widespread Palestinian protests across the West Bank and clashes with Israeli forces in which a further 20–26 Palestinians and 9 Israeli Jews were killed. It severely strained the Oslo Accords peace process. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin condemned the attack, and the Kach party was subsequently banned and designated a terrorist organization by Israel.