Assaf Staier

Oct 4, 2003 - Assaf Staier, 11, of Haifa was one of 19 people killed in a suicide bombing carried out by a female terrorist from Jenin in the Maxim restaurant in Haifa. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.

The blast devastated the restaurant, of joint Jewish-Arab ownership, on Hahagana Boulevard near the southern entrance of the coastal city. It was packed mostly with regular Saturday customers. The bomber, Hanadi Jaradat, a 29-year-old lawyer from Jenin, managed to get past Maxim's security guard before blowing herself up in the middle of the restaurant. The security guard, an Israeli Arab, was killed in the attack, along with three other Israeli Arab employees of the restaurant. The victims included five members of the Almog family from Haifa and five members of the Zer-Aviv family from Kibbutz Yagur. Four children were killed and 60 people were wounded in the bombing.

Three generations of the Almog family had gone to the beach and then went to Maxim for lunch. Assaf Staier was killed along with his grandparents, Ze'ev and Ruth Almog, his uncle Moshe Almog, and his cousin Tomer. Assaf's mother Galit was also wounded in the blast, along with his aunt Orly and two of his cousins.

Assaf Staier was buried in Haifa alongside his grandparents, uncle and cousin. He is survived by his parents, Ofer and Galit, and his brother Omri, 14.