Jerusalem, 10 November, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Domestic violence killings in Israel have left 33 children without their mothers so far in 2026, while five other children were murdered or survived attempts on their lives. The figures, published in a report released Sunday, highlight the devastating impact of domestic homicide on children, many of whom witness the killings firsthand.

In the past five weeks alone, four children — a two-month-old baby, two boys aged five and six, and a 12-year-old girl — witnessed their fathers stab their mothers to death. Over the same five-week period, five mothers and one fiancée were killed by their partners in their homes.

The Michal Sela Forum reported that between 2020 and November 8, 2026, a total of 241 children in Israel were orphaned following the murder of their mothers in domestic violence incidents. An average of 35 children were orphaned annually during that period. In 2025 alone, 51 children lost their mothers to domestic homicide, the highest annual figure recorded during the period. The Forum is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing domestic violence.

A breakdown of the 88 mothers murdered during this period shows that 46 (52.3%) were Jewish, while 35 (39.8%) were Arab. The latter figure is disproportionately high compared with the Arab community’s 21% share of Israel’s population, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics. Four victims (4.5%) were foreign nationals, while the backgrounds of three (3.4%) were not disclosed.

The demographic breakdown among the 241 orphaned children was similar: 127 (52.7%) were Jewish, 102 (42.3%) were Arab, and nine (3.7%) were children of mothers with foreign citizenship. The background of the mothers of the remaining three children (1.2%) was not disclosed.

The Children Left Behind

Behind the figures are children whose lives have been abruptly transformed by violence. Lili Ben Ami, founder of the Michal Sela Forum, described how the organization recently helped a five-year-old boy from Beer-Sheva who witnessed his father murder his mother. The boy’s 23-year-old sister assumed responsibility for his care. The Forum helped her secure and furnish a new apartment, providing essential household items, including beds, toys, and kitchenware.

The sister later sent Ben Ami a photograph of the smiling child, along with a message: “You saved us.”

“You can imagine how much that strengthens us and fills us with energy. That was my morning,” Ben Ami told TPS-IL.

Ben Ami also praised the Sne Center, operated by Israel’s Ministries of Justice and Welfare, for providing legal and psychological assistance to victims and their families.

Despite these initiatives, Ben Ami argues that the state must do more to support families left behind by domestic homicide.

She called for a civilian equivalent of the military’s casualty officer system, in which a designated officer accompanies bereaved families from the moment they receive news of a death and helps them navigate government agencies and subsequent arrangements.

“In the military, a casualty officer accompanies a bereaved family from the moment someone knocks on the door and delivers the terrible news, throughout the entire process. The officer helps the family navigate the authorities and everything that follows,” she told TPS-IL. “It is a successful, accurate, and effective system. We should implement the same approach for civilian families who have lost loved ones.”

Families often face legal, financial, and emotional challenges simultaneously, with little understanding of where to turn for help.

“These families have no idea where to begin. They suddenly face so many different challenges. There is the shared property, the orphaned children, the media knocking on their doors, police investigators requesting information, and the State Attorney’s Office. They have never dealt with any of this before. And on top of everything, they are trying to comprehend that their sister or mother has been murdered. It is devastating,” Ben Ami said.