After days of unusual searches: suspect arrested for murder of missing woman from East Jerusalem - and body found
After extensive searches, the body of Fatima al-Rajabi, who had been missing from her home since Sunday, was found, and a suspect was arrested for murder, a resident of East Jerusalem in his sixties. The police arrested him on suspicion of murder and involvement in her disappearance. The body has not yet been officially identified and has been transferred to the Institute of Forensic Medicine. The police assess the background as criminal.
After days of extensive and unusual searches, the body of Fatima al-Rajabi, a 61-year-old resident of East Jerusalem who had been missing from her home since Sunday afternoon, was found. Simultaneously, police arrested a resident of East Jerusalem in his sixties on suspicion of murder and involvement in her disappearance. The body was found in the eastern part of the city and has not yet been officially identified; it was transferred to the Institute of Forensic Medicine for identification and to determine the circumstances of death. The suspect is being questioned, and tomorrow the police will request an extension of his remand at the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court. A gag order imposed on the investigation has been reduced, but many details remain under seal. Hundreds of volunteers and residents from East Jerusalem participated in the searches, alongside large police forces in open areas near Mevaseret Zion. The police assess the background as criminal. The missing woman's son harshly criticized the police's conduct, claiming that the significant searches began late, comparing it to the treatment a Jewish woman would have received. The commander of the Salem station, Chief Superintendent Shalom Cohen, rejected the claims and emphasized that the investigation was conducted from the very first moment with extensive efforts and technological means, regardless of her origin.