Dalal Mughrabi

Dalal Mughrabi (Arabic: دلال المغربي‎, Dalāl al-Muɣrabī; c. 1959 – 11 March 1978) was a Palestinian militant who was a member of the Fatah faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and participated in the 1978 Coastal Road massacre in Israel. The attack resulted in the death of 38 Israeli civilians, including 13 children. Mughrabi and eight other militants were also killed in the course of the operation. She has been hailed as a martyr and a national hero among Palestinians, while in Israel she is seen as a terrorist.

Early life

Mughrabi was born and raised in the Palestinian refugee camp of Sabra in Beirut, Lebanon. Her father's family home prior to the 1948 Palestine war was in Jaffa, Palestine.

Originally educated as a nurse, Dalal Mughrabi decided to devote her life to politics when the Lebanese Civil War broke out in 1975. She joined Fatah and began working within the organization's communications service. She took part in the fighting against the Syrian army in the mountains southeast of Beirut when Syrian forces entered Lebanon in 1976 to assist the Phalangists and their allies. In 1977 she completed a three-month training course attaining her the rank of lieutenant. She was offered a post in Italy by Fatah as political officer working at the PLO office, but she declined choosing instead a military career.