Man arrested after wife found dead in burning home

Police arrested a man on suspicion of murder on Tuesday after his wife was found dead in their burning apartment in the central city of Rehovot.

The suspect was badly hurt in the blaze during the pre-dawn hours and the couple’s three children were lightly injured.

The children and husband were rushed to Rehovot’s Kaplan Medical Center for treatment.

Firefighters had been dispatched to the blaze that broke out on the second story of a residential building and evacuated the family.

Personnel from the Magen David Adom emergency response group pronounced the woman dead at the scene.

She was believed to have been around 30 years old, Channel 12 reported.

Police were investigating the incident alongside special forensic and fire investigators.

Activists have long complained about violence against women in Israel, saying not enough is done to prevent domestic violence.

A study by the Hebrew University-based Israel Observatory on Femicide examining the first half of 2022 found a 71 percent increase in femicide relative to the same period last year — 12 deaths compared to seven.

In July, Prime Minister Yair Lapid addressed the scourge of violence against women, saying it was “a stain on the country and it cannot continue.”