Reem al-Riyashi, 22, was carrying several pounds of explosives and nails strapped to a belt when she arrived last Thursday at the Erez crossing, a military checkpoint where Palestinian labourers from Gaza are searched before being allowed into Israel to work.

It emerged this weekend that al-Riyashi — who had a three-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter — had been dropped off at the checkpoint by her husband, Ziyad Awad, 27.

According to the teachings of Hamas, the radical Islamic group of which the couple were both members, al-Riyashi’s mission required her husband’s consent if she was to attain “martyrdom”.

She believed her death would turn her into one of 70 nymphs who would welcome Awad to heaven if he carried out a similar suicide attack.

As Israelis mourned the shedding of yet more innocent blood last week, the families of al- Riyashi and Awad made clear that they did not share the couple’s fervour.

Awad’s parents disowned him for helping his wife on such a mission; al-Riyashi’s refused to comment on their daughter’s act but they expressed outrage with their son-in-law.

According to Palestinian security services, the couple had been meticulously prepared for their mission. The day before, they were seen with Sami Abu Assi, al-Riyashi’s “handler” from Izzedine al-Qassam, Hamas’s military wing.

They were thought to have been going through the plan one final time as they walked and talked in the Zeitouni neighbourhood, a Hamas stronghold of Gaza.

The training proved all too effective when al-Riyashi arrived the next day in Erez and the bombs strapped around her waist set off metal detectors.

According to witnesses, al- Riyashi cried and wailed as she blamed the metal pins in her legs and pleaded with Gal Shapira, 28, the commander of the watch, to let her through.

Convinced by her tale, Shapira ordered one of his female colleagues to take her to a room to be searched.

Seconds later, al-Riyashi pressed her detonator, killing Shapira and two others as well as herself. At least a dozen people, including several Palestinian labourers, were injured.

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