On June 1, 2001 at 11:30 pm, a suicide bomber killed 19 people and wounded 90 in an attack at a downtown discotheque called Waterworld in Tel Aviv, Israel. The nightclub, located in the Dophinarium Beach district of Tel Aviv, was crowded, and the suicide bomber simply stood in the line of people waiting to get in. The explosive contained nails and ball bearings, causing extensive damage. Most of the victims were teenagers, and many were recent Russian immigrants.
The bomber was identified by Palestinian and Israeli sources as 22-year-old Mohammed Saeed al-Hotary. Although Palestinian authorities were not able to determine if he had connections to any known faction, the terrorist group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.
This attack was the third terrorist bombing in Israel in a week. Ten days before the incident, Israel has recently implemented a unilateral ceasefire in the hopes of ending violence, but in the wake of the attacks, members of the Israeli government, particularly Housing Minister Natan Sharansky, called for retaliation and an end to the ceasefire. Immediately after the explosion, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered the borders between Israel and Gaza and the West Bank closed.