Israeli embassy attack in Buenos Aires

Attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires
Part of Islamic terrorism
The attack site
Location	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Coordinates	34°35′30″S 58°22′49″W / 34.59167°S 58.38028°W / -34.59167; -58.38028
Date	March 17, 1992 14:42 pm (UTC-3) 2:42 pm (GMT-3)
Target	Israeli embassy
Attack type	suicide bombing
Deaths	29 people (+ 1 suicide bomber) 4 Israeli civilians 25 Argentine civilians
Non-fatal injuries	242 civilians
Perpetrators	Islamic Jihad Organization claimed responsibility Hezbollah operative Imad Mugniyah charged by Argentina

The attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires was a suicide bombing attack on the building of the Israeli embassy of Argentina, located in Buenos Aires, which was carried out on 17 March 1992. Twenty-nine civilians were killed in the attack and 242 additional civilians were injured.

On March 17, 1992, at 2:42 pm (UTC−3), a pick-up truck driven by a suicide bomber and loaded with explosives smashed into the front of the Israeli Embassy located on the corner of Arroyo and Suipacha, and detonated. The embassy, a Catholic church, and a nearby school building were destroyed. Four Israelis died, but most of the victims were Argentine civilians, many of them children. The blast killed 29 and wounded 242. It was Argentina's deadliest terror attack until the AMIA Bombing of 1994, and it remains the deadliest attack on an Israeli diplomatic mission.

Priest Juan Carlos Brumana was one of the people killed in the suicide bombing. He died in the Catholic Church Mater Admirabilis that is in front of the embassy. Among the dead there were two Israeli women who were the wives of the embassy's consul and first secretary.

A group called Islamic Jihad Organization, which has been linked to Iran and possibly Hezbollah, claimed responsibility; their stated motive for the attack was Israel's assassination of Hezbollah Secretary General Sayed Abbas al-Musawi in February 1992. Islamic Jihad also released surveillance footage they took of the embassy before the blast.

After the bombing, Israel sent investigators to Argentina to search for clues. They learned that the bombers planned the attack in the Tri-Border area, where the borders of Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil meet and which has a large Muslim population. Messages intercepted by the American National Security Agency revealed Iranian knowledge of the impending attack, as well as the complicity of Hezbollah operative Imad Mughniyah. In fact, Mugniyeh was formally charged by Argentina with participating in the bombings of the Israeli embassy.