Young Mother, 2 Children Brutally Murdered in Israel in Suspected Domestic Violence Case

A young woman and her two small sons were found stabbed to death in their central Israel home early Monday. The woman’s husband, aged around 30, was arrested shortly afterward on suspicion of killing the three.

Bara’ah Jaber Masarwa, 26, and her two sons, Amir, 2, and Adam, 6 months old, were discovered lifeless by paramedics in their residence in Taibe, an Arab city east of Netanya. The husband is suspected of killing the two children as they slept and attacking his wife in the kitchen.

Paramedic Mahmoud Araki described the scene as “disturbing,” with the woman, toddler, and infant found unconscious and bearing signs of violence. All three were declared dead at the scene. The Israel Police’s central district commander, Avi Biton, assigned a special crime-fighting unit to investigate the case.

Taibe Mayor Shuaa Masarwa Mansour said the family was not known to the city’s welfare authorities, and no red flags had been raised prior to the slaying. Familicides are relatively rare in Israel, though domestic violence has long been an issue. The deaths bring the number of killings in the Arab community this year to 64, according to the Abraham Initiatives, more than double the number killed during the same period last year.

The tragedy occurred amid ongoing debates on domestic violence legislation in Israel. Last month, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s coalition voted down a bill to impose electronic monitoring on domestic violence suspects with a restraining order, citing fairness concerns toward predominantly male abusers.