GRANDMOTHER IS LATEST PALI SUICIDE BOMBER

Grandmother in first Hamas suicide attack in two years.

JABALIYA, Gaza Strip (AFP) - A Palestinian grandmother blew herself up in the Gaza Strip, lightly wounding three Israeli soldiers, in the first suicide attack claimed by Hamas in almost two years. The mother of nine and grandmother of 41 became the oldest Palestinian suicide bomber at the age of 57, selecting as her target troops operating near her northern Gaza home in Jabaliya, seeking to curb near-daily rocket attacks on Israel. “Troops saw a woman approaching them in a suspicious manner and identified her carrying an explosive device,” an army spokeswoman said. “They then threw a stun grenade in her direction but she managed to blow herself up,” she added, adding that three soldiers were lightly hurt. Within minutes the armed wing of the Hamas claimed the bombing. This was the Islamist group’s first suicide attack since January 2005, when a bomber wounded seven Israeli soldiers in Gaza. “The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades claims the martyr operation carried out by Fatima Omar Mahmud al-Najar, aged 57, in the middle of a group of Zionist soldiers,” an online statement said.