Two children found stabbed to death in Jerusalem

A mother was suspected of stabbing her two children to death and attempting suicide in Jerusalem Monday morning.

Emergency services found the children, a boy, 7, and a girl, 5, with multiple stab wounds in an apartment on Ein Gedi Street, in the Talpiot neighborhood of the capital, according to police.

The mother, 36, was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. A doctor at Hadassah Medical center at Ein Karem told Channel 2 she was expected to survive. She also had multiple stab wounds on the upper part of her body.

Initial reports said that the mother’s sister, who was in the apartment at the time, called police after she awoke to the sound of screams as her sister attacked the children. A police official said the sister was an eyewitness to the attack and unsuccessfully tried to stop the mother.

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Upon arriving at the scene, police found the mother had barricaded herself in the home and broke in, finding the two children already dead and the mother severely injured.

Police and rescuers at the scene of the murder. (photo credit: Philip Brooke)

The mother, from Ukraine, is reportedly divorced and the children’s father is abroad.

The family did have a record with Israeli social services, Israel Radio reported. A police official had earlier said the family did not have a file with police or social services.

Authorities launched an investigation of the incident.