Following the terror attack that occurred Tuesday night in Holon, residents in Tel Aviv woke up in horror on Wednesday to find that they could see the body of terrorist Musa Sarsour, who had killed an elderly woman the night before, hanging dead, from their window.
The terrorist arrived in Tel Aviv by bus from Holon, where he murdered 84-year-old Shlomit Rachel Ovadia the day before, and the police were called to the building where his body was discovered only after a passerby spotted it on his way to the synagogue.
"The WhatsApp group with our neighbors was blowing up with questions about why there is so much police in the area of the building and no one knew," Alma Shaham, who lived by the location where Sarsour's body was found, said. "A neighbor who is actually in Mexico sent an article saying that someone committed suicide and that maybe it was the terrorist. My partner and I looked anyway, it was impossible not to.
"The WhatsApp group with our neighbors was blowing up with questions about why there is so much police in the area of the building and no one knew."
Alma Shaham
"We saw a lot of policemen and they were bringing the body bag for him, but he was still hanging even though it had been a while since it was reported," she continued. "No one took him down. It was scary. No one told us anything, they didn't yell at us to stay at home, they could have prevented us [from experiencing this]."
Shaham said that what they had seen, she could only describe as "horrors."
She explained that when you see something like that, you're in a panic and can't understand what's going on. Only later did they realize and tried to continue the day as usual.
"In a situation like this, they have to shout at us with a megaphone not to open the windows. No one wants to see something like that. The gate to the yard was open, he entered easily, found an iron wire and hanged himself."
Hila Sela, local resident of Dizengoff Street
"We woke up to the noise of police radios," Daniel, Alma's roommate, said. "I thought the workers in the next building were making noise, the most innocent thing in the world. Then they started saying messages that the terrorist had probably hanged himself in our building. I couldn't control myself, I dashed to the window and I saw him.
"I'm a positive guy, there's nothing to get anxious about now. I was in the army, I saw worse things than that."
Daniel, local resident of Dizengoff Street
"I'm a positive guy, there's nothing to get anxious about now," he said reassuringly. "I was in the army, I saw worse things than that."
Frustration with law enforcement
Another tenant nearby, Hila Sela, said that she had opened the shutters of her window, first spotting a policeman. When she turned her head, that's when she saw the body hanging. She said that she is "angry with the police."
She explained, "In a situation like this, they have to shout at us with a megaphone not to open the windows. No one wants to see something like that. The gate to the yard was open, he entered easily, found an iron wire and hanged himself."
Who was the terrorist?
The 28-year-old terrorist from the Kalkilya area entered Israel with permission and there was no Shin Bet alert regarding him. Five people close to him, including family members, were arrested during the manhunt on suspicion of assisting with the attack. They, in turn, claimed that he was suffering from mental problems.