Woman found stabbed to death in south Tel Aviv
Suspect arrested, but no motive immediately provided, with police saying all avenues of investigation being examined
A 35-year-old woman was found dead in south Tel Aviv on Tuesday afternoon with stab wounds in the upper part of her body in an incident being treated as a suspected murder.
The woman’s body was discovered on Zerah Street in Tel Aviv’s Hatikva neighborhood shortly after 3 p.m., Magen David Adom said, and her death was determined by medics called to the scene. She was later named by the Ynet news site as Marina Malinovsky.
“The woman was found lying in the alley unconscious, without vital signs,” MDA paramedic Sara Shitrit said in a statement to the press. “We performed medical tests and she had no signs of life, we had to declare her death on the spot.”
Police said they were treating the incident as “criminal,” indicating they weren’t suspecting a terror motive. An investigation has been opened by the South Tel Aviv police department and the region’s forensic investigations department.
The police are “collecting evidence at the scene of the incident and conducting extensive scans in order to locate those involved,” a spokesperson said.
No suspected motive for the murder was immediately provided and Ronen Noah, the head of the South Tel Aviv police department’s Investigation and Intelligence Division, confirmed that “at this stage, all possible directions or investigation are being examined.”
Hours later, police announced the arrest of a Tel Aviv resident suspected of killing Malinovsky.
Ten women have been murdered so far this year in Israel, marking an increase compared to the same time frame in 2023. Twenty-two women were murdered in incidents of femicide in 2023, and of that number, eight were killed between January and April.
Earlier this month, two women were killed just hours apart in northern Israel, one in Nahariya and the other in I’billin.
Women’s rights activists have voiced concerns in recent months that changes in key areas of government policy will have an impact on women’s safety. In particular, they have condemned the decision by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir in February to cease funding the Michal Sela Forum’s security programs for women at risk of domestic abuse.
In addition, they have warned that recently-relaxed firearm restrictions could exacerbate the violence that women face, particularly those in violent or dangerous living situations.
