Israeli woman in coma becomes 16th victim of 2001 suicide bombing
An Israeli woman who was critically wounded in a 2001 suicide bombing at a Jerusalem restaurant has died, after spending nearly 22 years in a coma. Her death is the 16th fatality from that attack.
Hana Nachenberg was 31 at the time and was dining with her three-yearold daughter when the blast occurred, Israeli media reported. She was in a coma until she died on Wednesday, reports said. Her daughter was not hurt in the attack.
Fifteen people, including eight children, died and more than 120 people were wounded in what was one of the deadliest attacks of the second Palestinian intifada or uprising. The atrocity was later claimed by the Islamic Jihad militant group.
Speaking to Israeli website Ynet, Nachenberg’s father, Yitzhak, confirmed that she never regained consciousness and died after having being hospitalised for the past three weeks in Tel Aviv. “Our daughter died after 22 years of heroism,” he said.
The attack remains one of the most infamous in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and came at a time of surging violence between the sides during the second Palestinian intifada or uprising.
The bombing still makes news today. The family of an Israeli-American girl killed in the attack is waging a campaign to press Jordan, a close American ally, to send a woman convicted of aiding the attacker to the United States for trial.
Ahlam Tamimi was convicted of choosing the target and guiding the bomber there and was sentenced by Israel to 16 life sentences. Israel released her in a 2011 prisoner swap with the Hamas militant group and she was sent to Jordan, where she lives freely and has been a familiar face in the media.
The US has charged Tamimi with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction against Americans. Her name was added to the FBI’s list of most wanted terrorists.