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Ayyash, Yahya (1966–1996)———63

then, as the call would not go through, on the cell believed that the phone he gave to his nephew was
phone. Osama Hamad answered the cell phone and rigged with a listening device, not explosives. Kamal
passed it to Ayyash. Hamad later said he walked Hamad subsequently sued Shin Bet for financial
away to give his friend more privacy; he heard an losses and the threat to his own life for playing a role
explosion and looked back to see smoke. The blast in the murder.
had decapitated Ayyash.
See also YASIR ARAFAT; HAMAS; SUICIDE TERRORISM
Following Ayyash’s assassination, rumors circu-
lated that he had, in fact, escaped. A loyal follower,
the rumors suggested, had answered the cell phone in Further Reading
his place and died for his leader. Brown, Derek. “A War of the Shadows; Obituary: Yahya
In the two months following Ayyash’s death, sui- Ayyash.” The Guardian (London), January 8, 1996, 11.
cide bombings instigated by Hamas in retaliation Cockburn, Patrick. “How the Phone Bomb Was Set Up.”
for his murder killed more than 40 people. The The Independent (London), January 9, 1996, 10.
bombers targeted buses and bus stops in Jerusalem Greenberg, Joel. “Slaying Blended Technology and Guile.”
and Ashkelon. New York Times, January 10, 1996, A3.
Roy, Sara. “The Reason for Rage in Gaza.” Christian
The international press widely reported that
Science Monitor, January 12, 1996, 20.
Kamal Hamad, who fled Gaza after the bombing,