Abd al-Hadi Rafa Ghanim was born in 1964 and was a resident of the Nusseirat refugee camp located in the Gaza Strip. At the time of the attack in 1989, he was 25 years old. Ghanim was affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a known militant organization. No further verifiable information is available regarding his upbringing, education, or life prior to the attack.

On 6 July 1989, Abd al-Hadi Rafa Ghanim carried out a deadly attack on Egged bus line No. 405, a commuter route traveling from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, during the period of the First Intifada. As the bus approached the area near Qiryat Ye’arim, Ghanim attacked the driver and seized the steering wheel, deliberately steering the bus off the road and over a steep cliff into a ravine. The vehicle crashed and caught fire, resulting in the deaths of 16 civilians, including two Canadians and one American. An additional 27 passengers sustained injuries.

Despite the severity of the crash, Ghanim survived and received medical treatment at an Israeli hospital. He was subsequently tried, convicted, and sentenced to 16 life terms on charges including murder, terrorism, and hijacking.

Ghanim remained incarcerated in an Israeli prison until 18 October 2011, when he was released as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas. His release returned him to Gaza after serving over two decades in prison.