Two Illegal Residents Held in Tel Aviv Sex Offense Cases

Police in Tel Aviv said on Sunday, June 21, 2026, that prosecutor’s statements were filed against two Palestinian residents who were in Israel illegally, after investigations by the Lev Tel Aviv station in the Yarkon district. Both suspects are accused in separate sex offense incidents in Tel Aviv, and their detention was extended until June 24, 2026, to allow indictments to be filed by the Tel Aviv District Prosecutor’s Office.

In the first case, from June 13, 2026, a man in his 30s from Hawara was arrested on suspicion of committing an indecent act against a woman in Tel Aviv. During the investigation, police also suspected he was connected to another similar incident at a nearby club. In the second case, from June 15, 2026, a man in his 30s from Ram was arrested on suspicion that he entered a women’s restroom at Geula Beach and committed an indecent act against a woman there.

Police said the second suspect identified himself with a forged Israeli ID card when he was arrested. After questioning, prosecutor’s statements were filed against both suspects.

The arrests came after a complaint from a young woman who said that on a Friday evening in HaMesila Park in Tel Aviv, while she was there with a friend, a suspect pressed up against her and committed an indecent act. She said he kept following them afterward and tried to contact them. “I felt a hand that was not only grabbing my butt, but trying to touch me under my underwear, while walking. He was literally stuck to me from behind,” she said. She added that she asked bystanders for help, telling them, “A man is following us, act like you are our partners, I am scared.” She said she later learned the suspect had allegedly harassed other women that same evening and decided to file a police complaint. “I am not going to give up,” she said, adding that she hopes the case will encourage other women to report assaults and not stay silent.