Fatma Omar Mahmoud An-Najar (; died November 23, 2006) was a Palestinian grandmother and

suicide bomber A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is ofte ...

who lived in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

. On November 23, 2006, she detonated explosives she was wearing on a belt, and injured several Israeli soldiers near

Beit Lahia Beit Lahia or Beit Lahiya () is a city in the Gaza Strip, north of Jabalia, in the North Gaza Governorate of the State of Palestine. It sits next to Beit Hanoun and close to the border with Israel. According to the Palestinian Central Burea ...

and the

Jabalia Camp Jabalia Camp () is a Palestinian refugee camp in the North Gaza Governorate of the Gaza Strip, north of Jabalia. It is the largest refugee camp in Palestine, with more than 100,000 inhabitants. The camp only covers an area of 1.4 km2 making i ...

in northern Gaza.

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

claimed responsibility for the bombing. Her family said she was 64.

Life

An-Najar was a mother of nine children and a grandmother of between 35 and 38 people. During the

First Intifada The First Intifada (), also known as the First Palestinian Intifada, was a sustained series of Nonviolent resistance, non-violent protests, acts of civil disobedience, Riot, riots, and Terrorism, terrorist attacks carried out by Palestinians ...

she had sheltered Hamas militants and the

Israeli army The Israeli Ground Forces () are the Army, ground forces of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The commander is the GOC Army Headquarters, General Officer Commanding with the rank of major general, the ''Mazi'', subordinate to the Chief of the Gen ...

had demolished her home. Her husband had died in 2005 and a grandson had been shot dead in 2002. At the time of her death, she was 57 according to

and her family said she was 64.

Death

An-Najar blew herself up on 23 November 2006, becoming the oldest out of the one hundred

suicide bombers A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is ofte ...

from the previous six years. Her motivation was Israeli attacks on the nearby

in the

. She approached Israeli soldiers near the town of

and detonated the explosives on her belt when they threw stun grenades at her. Several soldiers were reported to have been wounded. In her martyrdom video, An-Najar said she made the attack in the name of Hamas and its military leader

Mohammed Deif Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri (; 12 August 1965 – 13 July 2024), better known as Mohammed Deif (), was a Palestinian militant who served as the sixth commander of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. He succeeded Salah Shehade following t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:An-Najar, Fatma Omar 2006 suicides Female suicide bombers Suicide bombers in Israel Palestinian female murderers Palestinian militants People from Gaza Governorate People from Jabalia Camp 21st-century Palestinian women