A woman, 26-year-old Baraa Massaroa, and her two infant sons Amir and Adam were the latest in a string of murder victims after being stabbed to death in Taybe on Sunday night, according to an Israel Police spokesperson.
The husband, a man in his 30s was arrested on suspicion of having murdered his wife and children, the police said.
The children were six months old and two years old.
“When we arrived at the scene, the sight was extremely shocking,” said MDA paramedic Mohammed Araki. “We saw a woman, a baby and a toddler unconscious and with signs of violence. We did medical tests and tried to save them, they didn’t show any signs of life and unfortunately, we had no choice but to pronounce the three dead.”
Friends and family didn’t notice signs of violence
“We are in shock,” said Baraa’s father Aadel Jabar to Ynet. “We’ve lost the flowers of the family. Last time we spoke was on a holiday. She and my grandsons hugged me and then left. They were on a trip and returned. We never expected it to end in murder.”
Israel Police squad car. (credit: Wikimedia Commons)“Only two days ago, they returned from vacation,” one of the suspect’s relatives told Kan. “He wasn’t wanting for anything. He had a job, a house, children, a wife. Suddenly you hear of murder. “I’m in shock, it’s unbelievable. This is a serious hit.”
One of the suspect’s coworkers told Kan that there had not been any noticeable signs.
“I didn’t see anything, he loved his wife,” he said. “When she had their first child, he was happy.”
There was no known history of violence in the family, and they were not known to social services for any issues.
Politicians call for government action to stem the violence
“The report of the murder of a mother and two children who never did anything to anyone breaks my heart,” said opposition leader Yair Lapid. “The number of murders has doubled under this government. The government under my leadership lowered the rate of violence in an organized and quiet fashion. The current government promised personal security and is failing with that.”
“There are incidents that just leave you speechless,” said Labor MK Merav Michaeli. “The murder of a 26-year-old woman together with her two infants, seemingly murdered by her husband and their father. The violence running rampant in the streets is shocking. A woman and defenseless children were murdered, and the government doesn’t think to deal with this epidemic. And it’s also political. You cannot mistake that. When the government insists on not advancing the electronic bracelet bill that was meant to save women’s lives, the blame is also on them.”
“A shocking and horrible murder,” said Labor MK Naama Lazimi. “Violence is running wild, and the police aren’t managing to reign in the bloody reality that has a heavy price every day. There’s no treatment of crime, no significant extra budget for a plan to eradicate violence and murder of women. The electronic bracelet bill didn’t make it into law, and women who are scared to complain about violence are murdered in cold blood and endless cruelty, and this time – an unimaginable murder of a mother and her children. There are no words in the world that can explain how a father murders his wife and two babies.”
“We woke up to a shocking and appalling morning,” said Hadash MK Aida Touma-Sliman. “While we slept, a woman and her two children were murdered in Taiba. The knife used by the murderer was sharpened by the government who deliberately acts against us women and by the appointed minister who harms every plan to protect women. This is a clear policy that encourages the current situation. We won’t be led to our deaths quietly like sheep to the slaughter. It’s time to make our voice heard clearly to shake everything.”
“The issue of crime in the Arab sector is not just our problem,” said Taiba’s mayor. “It’s all of Israel’s problem. We saw that the murders have gotten to Tel Aviv and everywhere. The safety of the country’s residents is the responsibility of the government. This is a difficult event. This was an economically-stable family and known to the city as an exemplary family.”
Leaders of multiple organizations for the protection of women called on National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to push legislation to protect women and to effectively deal with the rising rates of murder.
“Violence is running wild, and the police aren’t managing to reign in the bloody reality that has a heavy price every day.”
MK Naama Lazimi
The number of deaths from violence and crime in the Arab sector in 2023 now stands at 64, according to the Abraham Initiatives. Baraa is the fourth Arab woman to have been murdered this year.
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