Woman wounded in Jerusalem axe attack, police hunt assailant

Suspect broke into elderly woman’s home and attacked her with an axe; police launch manhunt to arrest perpetrator.

By World Israel News Staff

An Israeli woman was attacked by an axe-wielding assailant late Wednesday night, with the manhunt for the perpetrator still ongoing.

The victim, reported by Hebrew-language media as being in her 70s, was moderately wounded in the attack, which occurred at her home in the Old City.

According to Ynet, the suspect, armed with an axe, broke into the woman’s home.

After the attack, he reportedly removed the hoodie he had been wearing – likely due to blood stains – and fled the scene.

“I arrived at the scene and saw the victim, [who was] fully conscious. She was lying [on the floor] with injuries to her upper body,” said Yossi Kasuto, a senior Magen David Adom paramedic, in a media statement.

“I gave her life-saving medical treatment and we transferred her to the special MDA ATV that evacuated her through the narrow alleyways of Jerusalem…to an ambulance that was waiting at the Zion Gate. From there we evacuated her, while continuing medical treatment, to the hospital, with her condition [being] moderate and stable.”

The police said in a press statement that they had dispatched forensic officers to gather evidence at the scene.

The Jerusalem Police District Commander “conducted a situational assessment, during which he directed the use of all means and forces in order to locate the suspect who fled.”

As of Thursday, the police have yet to locate the attacker.

Details about his identity and the motivation for the attack have not yet been made public.

In December 2024, a janitor who worked in a Jerusalem apartment building broke into the home of an elderly Jewish woman. He strangled and stabbed the woman, 74, then stole her jewelry and fled the apartment, believing he had murdered her.

The woman, seriously wounded, managed to call for help.

The suspect was arrested hours later, and the attempted murder was classified as a terror attack by Israeli authorities.