Fatma al-Rajabi, a 61-year-old resident of eastern Jerusalem, has been missing since Sunday afternoon without any contact. Grave concern for her safety has mounted as hundreds join the search across the Jerusalem area.
Israel Police possess video footage showing al-Rajabi leaving her home before she disappeared, according to a report Wednesday in Ynet. As hours turn to days without contact, fears for her life intensify. Investigators are pursuing multiple leads, including the possibility of criminal motives behind her disappearance.
Large police contingents alongside hundreds of volunteers, including many eastern Jerusalem residents who joined overnight, have conducted extensive searches across open terrain and various sites around the capital. Operations have focused on areas near Mevasseret Zion and Abu Ghosh, following operational intelligence developed during the investigation.
Despite the field activity, the ongoing search has sparked fury among al-Rajabi's family members, who have leveled sharp criticism at authorities. They claim police failed to act with appropriate urgency and did not launch meaningful searches immediately upon receiving the initial report.
According to her son, if the missing woman was Jewish, the system would have deployed helicopters and mobilized all resources within the first hours. The family is now demanding categorically that the Shin Bet security service be brought into the investigation.
Shalem Station Commander Chief Superintendent Shalom Cohen firmly rejected the family's allegations, categorically denying any claim that the response was influenced by the missing woman's background or delayed in any way. According to Cohen, an intensive investigation has been running on multiple tracks simultaneously since the report was received Sunday, and this represents one of the missing-persons cases in which maximum resources and the most advanced technological means available have been invested, without exception.
