An 84-year-old woman named Rachel Shlomit Ovadya was bludgeoned to death yesterday in the Tel Aviv suburb of Holon in what is suspected to be a terrorist attack. Prime Minister Yair Lapid was updated on the incident during his meeting in New York with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, tweeting that “terrorism is the embodiment of pure evil. This is a shocking attack by a despicable and cowardly terrorist who murdered an elderly woman who could not fight him.” Lapid pledged to handle terrorism with an iron fist and track down all its perpetrators.
Also yesterday, while touring the Israel Defense Forces' West Bank division base, Defense Minister Benny Gantz said, “In the last few months we have arrested and hit more than a thousand terrorists.” He then added that in his talks with the brigade commanders in the sector, he stressed to them that they have full freedom of activity to prevent terrorist attacks but also the need to act responsibly.
