Israel is now facing a new phase in terror tactics.Suicide bombers are an increasingly common weapon in the campaign against Israel by Palestinian extremists.Two recent suicide attacks in Israel have been conducted by women. And about 20 others have been caught on their way to blow up Israeli targets.Seeking revenge for the death of her brother at the hands of an Israeli soldier, a trainee lawyer and Islamic Jihad recruit walked into a packed Haifa restaurant and blew herself to pieces. The bomb belt packed with nails, screws and ball bearings killed 22 people and wounded more than 40 others. And in another recent case a 22-year-old mother of three Reem Raiyshi killed four Israelis at a border crossing.Until recently Hamas was reluctant to recruit female bombers, arguing it was against the Koran. But with Reem Raiyshi, Hamas has done an about-face. The bombings by the trainee lawyer Jaradat and mother of three Raiyshi highlight that there's no one profile for a woman suicide bomber.The first recorded suicide bombing by a woman was in Lebanon 20 years ago, but it's only been in the past couple of years that Palestinian women have tried to carry out these types of attacks.
And Israeli experts believe this phenomenon is being driven not by ideology but rather by pragmatism.This report from the ABC's Middle East correspondent Mark Willacy.
MARK WILLACY: A devout Muslin, Obeida Khalil spends hours alone in her cell reading the Koran.But no matter how hard she looks, the 27-year-old can't find any reference in the Holy Book supporting suicide attacks.Obeida Khalil used to look after old people in her home town of Nablus, while learning English in the hope it could earn her a job and a way out of grinding poverty.But three years ago something changed and the young woman decided to become a suicide bomber.
20:30
OBEIDA KHALIL: There are many reasons why I tried to carry out a suicide bombing. I was very young when the first Palestinian intifada happened, but I saw how the Israelis killed little children and how they destroyed our houses. During this intifada, I was engaged but four days before our wedding, my fiance was killed by the Israelis. Since then my family has started to carry out attacks. My brother and my female cousin were suicide bombers.
21:04
MARK WILLACY: Obeida Khalil has been sentenced to five years in Hasharon jail for trying to follow in the
21:32
footsteps of her brother and cousin.
OBEIDA KHALIL:
I wanted to carry out the attack at the same place my brother did at the central bus station in Tel Aviv. I want to hurt soldiers who used the station there to go home.
21:40
MARK WILLACY: But before she could reach her target, she was arrested by Israel's Shin Bet security agency in the home of an Islamic Jihad militant who was organising a bomb belt for her.
21:53
Locked up along aside Obeida Khalil in Hasharon jail is 70 other women convicted of security crimes against Israel.
22:05
MARK WILLACY: This woman tells me how she was convicted of helping a suicide bomber successfully reach his target inside Israel.
FEMALE PRISONER: I am here because I protected my land in Palestine, and because I fought for my land they put me here. But I have no regrets.
22:14
MARK WILLACY: For Israeli military chiefs, Palestinian women are a security nightmare because of the religious sensitivities involved in searching Muslim females.
22:32
SUPERINTENDENT RAED RAMACH, INTELLIGENCE COMMANDER, HASHARON PRISON:
Hamas thinks it's better to use women because they are easier to get past the soldiers.The traditional dress of Palestinian women allows them to hide things and cover things like explosives and booby traps and they can pass easily through checkpoints.
22:44
YORAM SCHWEITZER, CENTRE FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES, TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY:
These are religious-oriented and mostly traditional societies, so females have not taken part in these operations up until recently, when there is a tactical need for it.
23:00
MARK WILLACY:
Analysts like Yoram Schweitzer also claim that some women want to become suicide bombers to purify themselves of such indiscretions as
23:12
unwanted pregnancies and extra marital affairs.
23:23
YORAM SCHWEITZER: There were problems, if you want to call it, with all of these women.Some of them may have other revengeful motivations or outrage or other reasons as other suicide bombers, but what drove them to this situation was a combination of things.One of them was the need to purify themselves.
23:27
MARK WILLACY: Authorities at Hasharon gaol say at least one of their inmates was pregnant outside of marriage when she tried to carry out an attack.The baby boy now lives with her in her cell.
23:47
Obeida Khalil has three and a half years to go in Hasharon prison, but Israeli authorities fear that upon her release she'll only try to carry out another suicide bombing.
24:06
CHIEF INSPECTOR NUHAD HUSSEIN, HASHARON PRISON:
This woman has a look in her eyes. It's one of anger. When she looks at you, her eyes are so piercing that sometimes it's scary to look at her. Lately she said the first thing she'll do when she's released is to try and blow herself up again.
24:18
MARK WILLACY: Obeida Khalil certainly believes suicide bombings are a legitimate weapon against the Israeli occupiers.
OBEIDA KHALIL: These people stole my land. They've been killing Muslims for years. What do you want me to tell you? They've never done anything good to me. If the Israelis were on their own land, I would no go there to kill them, but on my land, of course I'll kill them.
24:33
MARK WILLACY: For now, Obeida Khalil seeks guidance in her copy of the Koran. She has the next 3.5 years to decide which path to choose - one of vengeance or one of non-violence.
24:57
FEMALE BOMBERS:Reporter: Mark Willacy
And Israeli experts believe this phenomenon is being driven not by ideology but rather by pragmatism.This report from the ABC's Middle East correspondent Mark Willacy.
MARK WILLACY: A devout Muslin, Obeida Khalil spends hours alone in her cell reading the Koran.But no matter how hard she looks, the 27-year-old can't find any reference in the Holy Book supporting suicide attacks.Obeida Khalil used to look after old people in her home town of Nablus, while learning English in the hope it could earn her a job and a way out of grinding poverty.But three years ago something changed and the young woman decided to become a suicide bomber.
20:30
OBEIDA KHALIL: There are many reasons why I tried to carry out a suicide bombing. I was very young when the first Palestinian intifada happened, but I saw how the Israelis killed little children and how they destroyed our houses. During this intifada, I was engaged but four days before our wedding, my fiance was killed by the Israelis. Since then my family has started to carry out attacks. My brother and my female cousin were suicide bombers.
21:04
MARK WILLACY: Obeida Khalil has been sentenced to five years in Hasharon jail for trying to follow in the
21:32
footsteps of her brother and cousin.
OBEIDA KHALIL:
I wanted to carry out the attack at the same place my brother did at the central bus station in Tel Aviv. I want to hurt soldiers who used the station there to go home.
21:40
MARK WILLACY: But before she could reach her target, she was arrested by Israel's Shin Bet security agency in the home of an Islamic Jihad militant who was organising a bomb belt for her.
21:53
Locked up along aside Obeida Khalil in Hasharon jail is 70 other women convicted of security crimes against Israel.
22:05
MARK WILLACY: This woman tells me how she was convicted of helping a suicide bomber successfully reach his target inside Israel.
FEMALE PRISONER: I am here because I protected my land in Palestine, and because I fought for my land they put me here. But I have no regrets.
22:14
MARK WILLACY: For Israeli military chiefs, Palestinian women are a security nightmare because of the religious sensitivities involved in searching Muslim females.
22:32
SUPERINTENDENT RAED RAMACH, INTELLIGENCE COMMANDER, HASHARON PRISON:
Hamas thinks it's better to use women because they are easier to get past the soldiers.The traditional dress of Palestinian women allows them to hide things and cover things like explosives and booby traps and they can pass easily through checkpoints.
22:44
YORAM SCHWEITZER, CENTRE FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES, TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY:
These are religious-oriented and mostly traditional societies, so females have not taken part in these operations up until recently, when there is a tactical need for it.
23:00
MARK WILLACY:
Analysts like Yoram Schweitzer also claim that some women want to become suicide bombers to purify themselves of such indiscretions as
23:12
unwanted pregnancies and extra marital affairs.
23:23
YORAM SCHWEITZER: There were problems, if you want to call it, with all of these women.Some of them may have other revengeful motivations or outrage or other reasons as other suicide bombers, but what drove them to this situation was a combination of things.One of them was the need to purify themselves.
23:27
MARK WILLACY: Authorities at Hasharon gaol say at least one of their inmates was pregnant outside of marriage when she tried to carry out an attack.The baby boy now lives with her in her cell.
23:47
Obeida Khalil has three and a half years to go in Hasharon prison, but Israeli authorities fear that upon her release she'll only try to carry out another suicide bombing.
24:06
CHIEF INSPECTOR NUHAD HUSSEIN, HASHARON PRISON:
This woman has a look in her eyes. It's one of anger. When she looks at you, her eyes are so piercing that sometimes it's scary to look at her. Lately she said the first thing she'll do when she's released is to try and blow herself up again.
24:18
MARK WILLACY: Obeida Khalil certainly believes suicide bombings are a legitimate weapon against the Israeli occupiers.
OBEIDA KHALIL: These people stole my land. They've been killing Muslims for years. What do you want me to tell you? They've never done anything good to me. If the Israelis were on their own land, I would no go there to kill them, but on my land, of course I'll kill them.
24:33
MARK WILLACY: For now, Obeida Khalil seeks guidance in her copy of the Koran. She has the next 3.5 years to decide which path to choose - one of vengeance or one of non-violence.
24:57
FEMALE BOMBERS:Reporter: Mark Willacy