--- title: Israeli Mother of Six Stabbed Dead by Palestinian Attacker description: Her teenage daughter witnessed the attack, which took place in the Jewish settlement of Otniel in the West Bank canonical: https://time.com/4184026/israel-mother-stabbed-palestinian-attacker-otniel/ author: Rishi Iyengar article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-18T07:46:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T14:12:37.957Z article:section: World og:title: Israeli Mother of 6 Stabbed to Death by Palestinian Attacker og:description: Her teenage daughter witnessed the killing og:url: https://time.com/4184026/israel-mother-stabbed-palestinian-attacker-otniel/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt72ddbec7114979c0/69887986428a9e4187cd0ff5/gettyimages-505419804.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-UNREST og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Israeli Mother of 6 Stabbed to Death by Palestinian Attacker twitter:description: Her teenage daughter witnessed the killing twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt72ddbec7114979c0/69887986428a9e4187cd0ff5/gettyimages-505419804.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Israeli Mother of 6 Stabbed to Death at Home by Palestinian Intruder by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Jan 18, 2016 7:46 AM CUT  Israeli settlers protest outside their settlement of Kiryat Arba in the southern West Bank after a suspected Palestinian attacker stabbed to death a woman at her home in the Otniel settlement on January 17, 2016. Israeli settlers protest outside their settlement of Kiryat Arba in the southern West Bank after a suspected Palestinian attacker stabbed to death a woman at her home in the Otniel settlement on January 17, 2016.MENAHEM KAHANA—AFP/Getty Images by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Jan 18, 2016 7:46 AM CUT An Israeli woman living in the Jewish settlement of Otniel in the West Bank was [fatally stabbed](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35339520 "undefined") on Sunday by an attacker who entered her home, according to the country’s military. Israeli forces have launched a massive manhunt for the killer of Dafna Meir, a 30-something mother, the BBC reported. She is among more than two dozen Israelis who have been killed by Palestinians or Israeli Arabs since October, with over 150 Palestinian lives reportedly lost during the same period. Meir and her husband have four children aged 11 to 17 and foster two more, both under the age of five, [according](http://www.timesofisrael.com/slain-mother-dafna-meir-lauded-for-heroics-fighting-off-stabber/ "undefined") to the _Times of Israel_. Initial police reports indicate she was killed while struggling with the assailant to defend three of her children, one of whom — a teenage daughter — witnessed the attack. \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35339520 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4184026/israel-mother-stabbed-palestinian-attacker-otniel/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4184026/israel-mother-stabbed-palestinian-attacker-otniel/"},"headline":"Israeli Mother of 6 Stabbed to Death at Home by Palestinian Intruder","datePublished":"2016-01-18T07:46:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:12:37.957Z","description":"Her teenage daughter witnessed the attack","url":"https://time.com/4184026/israel-mother-stabbed-palestinian-attacker-otniel/","keywords":["Israel","Attack","Settlement","Mother","West Bank","Palestinian"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt72ddbec7114979c0/69887986428a9e4187cd0ff5/gettyimages-505419804.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt72ddbec7114979c0/69887986428a9e4187cd0ff5/gettyimages-505419804.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-UNREST","caption":"ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-UNREST","creditText":"MENAHEM KAHANA—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4184026/israel-mother-stabbed-palestinian-attacker-otniel/","name":"Israeli Mother of 6 Stabbed to Death at Home by Palestinian Intruder"}}]}] ```