Terror Strikes Inside Israeli Home
JERUSALEM, Israel – A Palestinian terrorist stabbed and killed an Israeli mother of six inside her home over the weekend in front of her teenaged daughter. The attack took place in the Israeli Judean community of Otniel near Hebron.
Dafna Meir, 38, was a nurse at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva. According to reports, she struggled with the terrorist at the doorway to their home in an effort to protect the children inside. The attacker ran away when he couldn't pull out the knife from her body. Her daughter called the emergency services.
As of Monday, the terrorist was still on the loose.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said all Israel is grieving.
"All of us are hurting and share in the painful grief," he said. "We will find the terrorist, and he will pay the full price for this heinous murder."
It was the first time terrorists have carried out a deadly attack inside a settlement since two terrorists brutally murdered five members of the Fogel family in Itamar.
More than 100,000 Israelis live in communities in biblical Judea and Samaria. The communities are often small and pastoral, in close proximity to Arab villages. It's not uncommon for residents to leave their doors unlocked.
About 130 families live in Otniel, which was named after the biblical judge Othniel Ben Kenaz.
In a separate incident on Monday, a terrorist entered a warehouse in another Judean community called Tekoa. He stabbed a pregnant woman in her 30s. She is in moderate condition and the terrorist was neutralized.
