Fatma Omar An-Najar

Fatma Omar An-Najar (died 2006) was a Palestinian grandmother and suicide bomber who lived in the Gaza Strip. In November 2006 she detonated explosives she was wearing on a belt and injured several Israeli soldiers near Beit Lahia and the Jabalia Camp. According to Hamas, which claimed the bombing, she was 57 and her family said she was 68.

Life

An-Najar was a mother of nine children and a grandmother of between 35 and 38 people. During the First Intifada she had sheltered Hamas militants and the Israeli army had demolished her home. Her husband had died in 2005 and a grandson had been shot dead in 2002.[1] At the time of her death, she was 57 according to Hamas and her family said she was 68.[2]

Death

An-Najar blew herself up on 23 November 2006, becoming the oldest out of the one hundred suicide bombers from the previous six years. Her motivation was Israeli attacks on the nearby Jabalia Camp in the Gaza Strip.[3] She approached Israeli soldiers near the town of Beit Lahia and detonated the explosives on her belt when they threw stun grenades at her.[4] Several soldiers were reported to have been wounded.[4][1] In her martyrdom video, An-Najar said she made the attack in the name of Hamas and its military leader Mohammed Deif.[1]

References
  1. "Matriarch who lost grandson in conflict with Israelis turns into suicide bomber". International Herald Tribune. Associated Press. 23 November 2006. Archived from the original on 24 November 2006. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  2. Farrell, Stephen (24 November 2006). "Grandmother blows herself up in Gaza". The Times. London. Gale IF502868618.
  3. Halwani, R.; Kapitan, T. (2007). The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Philosophical Essays on Self-Determination, Terrorism and the One-State Solution. Springer. p. 152. ISBN 978-0-230-59971-0. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  4. Ellingwood, Ken (24 November 2006). "Grandmother targets Israeli troops as a suicide bomber". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
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