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Victim of 2001 suicide bomb attack in Jerusalem dies after 22 years in coma

Chana Nachenberg becomes the 16th fatality from the terror attack

A gaping hole is left in the shop front of the Sbarro Pizzeria after a suicide bombing in Jerusalem, Aug. 9, 2001. (Photo: Reuters)

After spending more than 22 years in a coma, 52-year-old Chana Nachenberg died on Wednesday.

Born in America, Nachenberg was just 31 years old at the time of the August 2001 Sbarro Pizzeria bombing, when she was critically wounded in a deadly suicide bomb attack. Nachenberg and her two-year-old daughter were two of only a few people who survived the deadly terror incident.

The fatal incident took place at Sbarro Pizzeria in one of the busiest intersections in Jerusalem.

The suicide bomber, Izz al-Din Shuheil al-Masri killed 15 people, including seven children and a pregnant woman, when he set off a bomb at the popular eatery. An additional 130 people were wounded in the attack. Nachenberg becomes the 16th fatality for the attack.

His accomplice, Ahlam Tamimi, was given 16 life sentences for her role in the bombing. She was later released in 2011, when Israel agreed to a swap of thousands of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, who was taken captive in June 2006 by the Iranian-supported Hamas terrorist organization

Tamimi reportedly now lives in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and hosts a TV show whose channel is affiliated with Hamas.

Jordan has refused to extradite her to the United States, despite a 1995 extradition treaty between the two countries.

Even so, the FBI has described her as “armed and dangerous” and one of the federal agency’s “most wanted terrorists,” offering a reward of up to $5 million for her capture.

Tamimi makes no secret of being a terrorist.

“Being in Jordan has given me strength,” she said in 2019. “Why are we considered to be terrorists? Why am I, Ahlam, considered to be a terrorist when I am part of a movement for freedom and national liberation?”

The terrorists responsible for the attack reportedly continue to be rewarded by the Palestinian Authority, which allots $7,321 monthly to the terrorists and their families, according to a 2019 Jewish News Syndicate report.

The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.

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