Samiha al-Qubaj Salameh Khalil (Arabic: سميحة خليل; born 1923 in Anabta, Mandatory Palestine – died 26 February 1999 in Ramallah, Palestine), also known as Umm Khalil, was a Palestinian charity worker as well as a prominent figure in Palestinian politics.
After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the couple fled to Gaza where they raised a family of five children, and in 1964 Samiha finally returned to school and graduated.
In 1965, Khalil came to the public eye when she founded the In'aash al-Usra society in her garage - it would grow to become the largest and most effective Palestinian welfare organization.
In 1996 she ran for president of the Palestinian Authority, losing to Yasser Arafat, while garnering 11.5% of the vote.
[4] A grandmother of 13, Khalil remained an active member in the political scene, serving on the Palestinian National Council up until her death in 1999.