American paralyzed in 2003 Hamas bus bombing has passed away from his injuries.

JERUSALEM – The wife of a U.S. citizen seriously injured in a Palestinian suicide bombing seven years ago says he has died as a result of complications from his wounds.

Julie Averbach says her husband, 44-year-old New Jersey native Steve Averbach, died in his sleep on Thursday.

A Hamas suicide bomber killed seven people and wounded 20 when he detonated his explosives on a packed commuter bus in Jerusalem in May 2003, at the height of the Palestinian intifada uprising.

Averbach was hit by shrapnel and paralyzed from the neck down.