Israel Police on Wednesday identified the elderly woman who was killed in a terrorist attack outside her home in the central city of Holon as 84-year-old Shulamit Rachel Ovadia.
According to law enforcement, Ovadia was attacked by Mousa Sarsour, a 28-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank city of Qalqilya, just 50 meters (160 feet) from her home.
Sarsour, who worked at a construction site near the elderly woman's place of residence, held an entry permit to Israel and crossed through the Eyal crossing legally on Tuesday, just hours before the deadly attack.
The victim's neighbors described to Ynet the sense of terror that struck them after the attack and the sense of relief they felt after hearing Sarsour was found dead in Tel Aviv after an apparent suicide.
"I'm in complete shock and I feel unsafe," Ovaida's neighbor Adi Afgin told Ynet. "Last Thursday, I almost ran into him, he was sitting outside on a bench around 10:30pm and smoking a cigarette. As soon as I heard the report about the attack, I immediately thought it must have been him.
Last week, I saw three policemen stop him and ask for his ID and work permit, it aroused my suspicion so I kept my eyes peeled over the next few days."
Ovadia is survived by her husband, whom she was nursing, and her three children and grandchildren. Her relatives described her as a warm and lovely woman.
Police suspect Sarsour fled from Holon to nearby Tel Aviv by bus after the attack and later committed suicide.
He was stopped by the police twice but wasn't arrested because he had a valid work permit and entry permit to Israel and was unarmed.
Sarsour's family said that despite him suffering from drug-induced mental issues, they didn't believe he could have killed Ovadia.
"Lately, he suffered from mental issues as a result of some narcotics he was taking. He was a very shy and quiet person, barely even spoke to his family," they said.
"We can't understand how this is possible, we will wait for the results of the investigation, we are sure he is innocent."