Pregnant Woman Stabbed to Death in Lod

A heavily pregnant woman was stabbed to death in broad daylight in a street in the central Israeli city of Lod this morning, in what was described as the 222nd killing in the Israeli Arab community this year. Several hours later, police arrested two members of the woman’s family over the attack.

Security camera footage showed a man in dark clothing attacking the woman and stabbing her multiple times on a city street as pedestrians passing by, including a woman with a child, saw what was happening and quickly walked or ran away. The attacker then ran to a waiting car.

The woman, in her 20s, was reportedly taken to hospital in critical condition and underwent an emergency C-section, but neither she nor the infant survived.

The homicide rate in the Arab community has reportedly more than doubled this year. At this time last year, it stood at 103.