Yahya Ayyash

Yahya Abd-al-Latif Ayyash (Arabic: يحيى عياش, romanized: Yaḥyā ʿAyyāš, pronounced [jaħjaː ʕajːaʃ]; 6 March 1966 – 5 January 1996) was the chief bombmaker of Hamas and the leader of the West Bank battalion of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. In that capacity, he earned the nickname "the Engineer" (Arabic: المهندس, romanized: al-Muhandis). Ayyash is credited with advancing the technique of suicide bombings against Israel by Palestinian militant groups. The bombings he orchestrated killed approximately 90 Israelis, many of them civilians. He was assassinated by the Shin Bet on January 5, 1996, through a booby-trapped mobile phone.

Ayyash is celebrated by local Palestinian communities who have named streets and other locales in his honor. His name was also given to the rocket Ayyash-250 produced by Hamas.