The stabbing of a 74-year-old woman in her Jerusalem apartment in December was a terrorist attack, the Israel Police and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said Sunday.
During interrogation, the terrorist said he initially strangled the victim until he thought she was dead. After returning to the apartment, he realized she was still alive and began stabbing her, according to reports.
The terrorist’s detention was extended, and he will likely be indicted within days, the reports said.
Circumstances of Jerusalem stabbing on elderly woman
On December 19, police received a report about a resident of a downtown Jerusalem neighborhood who had been violently attacked in her home. The initial investigation indicated terrorism and not criminal activity. This led to the launch of a multi-agency investigation.
Within hours of the attack, the terrorist, a 60-year-old resident of east Jerusalem, was arrested for questioning in cooperation with the IDF. He knew the victim because he worked in her building as a cleaner, according to reports.
The investigation revealed that the evening before the attack, the terrorist had come to her home to repair something. That evening, he told the victim he needed to buy screws, and she gave him NIS 100. He promised to come the next morning.
The next day, the terrorist arrived at the victim’s house, revealing in his interrogation that he had already planned to carry out an attack that day. At one point, while he was in her apartment, he began to choke her and then left.
He then noticed he had forgotten to take his walking stick, and he reentered the apartment, where he noticed that the victim was still alive. He took a knife from a drawer, began stabbing her in the upper body several times, and then fled, stealing jewelry and other possessions.
The victim, despite her serious wounds, managed to call her daughter. After initial treatment in her apartment, she was taken to a hospital.
The terrorist sold the jewelry to a jewelry store in east Jerusalem and then traveled to the West Bank.
The police located the stolen jewelry, the reports said.