 | You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in Arabic. (June 2025)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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Maryam Mohammad Farhat | |
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| Born | 1949 Shuja'iyya,Gaza City, Gaza Strip |
| Died | 17 March 2013(2013-03-17) (aged 63) Gaza City, Gaza Strip,Palestinian territories |
| Other names | Umm Nidal |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Known for | Being the "Mother of Martyrs" |
| Children | 10, includingNidal Farhat andWissam Farhat |
Maryam Mohammad Yousif Farhat (Arabic:مريم محمد يوسف فرحات), or Mariam Farahat (1949 – 17 March 2013), more commonly known asUmm Nidal (Arabic:أم نضال) was a Palestinian activist popularly known by Palestinians as the"Mother of Martyrs" for her support for her sons' involvement in attacks against Israel.[1][2] Three of her sons were members ofHamas[ambiguous] who conducted or participated in the organisation of attacks against Israeli civilian and/or military targets and were killed by Israeli forces, while she was still alive. Two more sons, also members of Hamas, were killed in theGaza war more than a decade after her death.
Umm Nidal was a close associate of the Hamas leadership for over 2 decades. Farhat had strong militant credentials, including an appearance carrying a gun in a video in which she advised one of her sons, Mohammed, on tactics before he attacked a Jewish settlement. Mohammed, 17, killed five Israelis before he was shot dead in the assault in the occupied Gaza Strip in 2002. Farhat's eldest son, Nidal, was killed in 2003 as he was preparing for another attack. A third son, Rawad, died earlier this year in an Israeli air strike on his car, which was carrying rockets.[1] She also was a member of thePalestinian Legislative Council for Hamas. Farhat was one of the most prominent Islamist female leaders in Gaza and became an icon of theSecond Intifada.[1]
She was born inShuja'iyya neighborhood inGaza City in 1949.[citation needed]
She had a total of ten children,[3] six of whom were sons.[1] Her eldest sonNidal was one of the first manufacturers of theQassam rocket and helped to make rockets for Hamas[2] and was killed in February 2003 while preparing to conduct an attack.[1] A third son Rawad died in 2005 in an Israeliairstrike on his car carryingQassam rocket.[1] Her sonWissam did time in Israeli prison[2] for attempted murder. After that, he was the mastermind behind various terrorist acts such as theAtzmona Attack and theNahal Oz attack. He was killed by the IDF in December 2023 duringGaza war. Another son, Moamin, a Hamas commander, was also killed by the IDF during the Gaza war in September 2025.[4]
In the 1990s, she sheltered Hamas military leaders such asEmad Akel.[2]
She came to public attention in 2002 after being filmed carrying a gun and advising her 17-year-old son Muhammad Farhat before theAtzmona attack on March 7.[1] Muhammad entered theGaza Strip former settlement ofAtzmona and opened fire and threwhand grenades at Israeli students enrolled in a pre-military school, killing five and wounding 23 others. After the attack, he was shot dead. After Muhammad's death, Farhat said she "wished [she] had 100 boys like Muhammad."[2]
She became known as "Khansa of Palestine" (Arabic:خنساء فلسطين), a reference toAl-Khansa (one ofthe companions ofMuhammad), all four of whose sons were killed in theBattle of Qadisiyah.Umm Nidal got this title because of her great sacrifices - as in the Palestinian andIslamic culture - during theSecond Intifada and before that, where her house was home to many prominent leaders ofIzz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, especiallyEmad Akel, who was assassinated in her home in 1993 by theIsrael Defense Forces.[5]
Farhat ran as a candidate ofHamas in the2006 Palestinian legislative election.[1] She was successfully elected to thePalestinian Legislative Council.[2]
In an interview published in both theIsraeli Arab weeklyKul al-Arab and theLondon-based Arabic-language dailyAl-Quds Al-Arabi, Umm Nidal said she was proud of her sons. In her December 2005 interview,[6] Umm Nidal said:
Farhat died on 17 March 2013, aged 64, from multiple organ failure, in Gaza City. Her death was announced by theIzz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing.[2] Her funeral was attended by 4,000 Palestinians, including top Hamas leaders such asIsmail Haniyeh.[7]