83-year-old woman killed in Herzliya terror stabbing; attacker is ex-Shin Bet informant
Ludmila Lipovsky stabbed outside her assisted living facility; security services say assailant from West Bank helped bust terror networks, was moved to Israel after cover was blown
An 83-year-old woman was stabbed and killed in a terror attack in Herzliya on Friday. The assailant, a 28-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank, had been a Shin Bet informant and was transferred to Israel after his cover was blown, the security agency said.
The victim, Ludmila Lipovsky, a Holocaust survivor, had just left her assisted living complex and was waiting for a ride to a doctor’s appointment at the time of the attack, Hebrew-language media reports said.
The attacker — identified by Ynet as Ibrahim Shalhoub, from the West Bank city of Tulkarem — reportedly pounced on Lipovsky and began stabbing her.
“[Lipovsky] went out and waited for her daughter to take her to the doctor and the terrorist started stabbing her, five or six times. She has been a resident of the nursing home here for many years. I heard screams, I went out and saw her lying on the floor,” an unnamed staffer at the facility told the Walla news site.
Security guards in the area shot the attacker, seriously wounding him and “neutralizing” him, authorities said. He was then arrested by police. No details were given on his condition.
Lipovsky was rushed by the Magen David Adom ambulance service to Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, where doctors pronounced her dead.
Following the attack, the Shin Bet security service revealed that the assailant was a former informant for the agency, and had been involved in uncovering terror networks in the West Bank, before his cover was blown and he was transferred to Israel.
Tel Aviv District Commander Haim Sargrof said the investigation into the attack was being managed together with the Shin Bet, and noted, “We are at a very high level of preparedness, this was a quick response that ended the incident.”
Since October 7, 43 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another six members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.
The Times of Israel Community.