Fire in Pisgat Ze'ev
Fire in Pisgat Ze'evFire Department

The Jerusalem Magistrates Court on Monday lifted a gag order on details showing that the fire in the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Pisgat Ze'ev that claimed the life of a young Israeli woman ten days ago was caused by Arab arson.

In the apartment that was set on fire, a young Jewish woman from the Neve Ya'akov neighborhood in northern Jerusalem lived with her partner, an Arab man named Ahmed Bardan.

The couple had been in conflict with another couple in the apartment building for several months, and apparently Bardan was in conflict with other Arab residents of the area.

It is suspected that Orit London fell victim to an arson attack targeting the couple's apartment that was below hers, in a revenge attack not connected to her at all.

A police investigation revealed that the suspects broke into the apartment below London's, stole clothes and other goods, and then set the bed on fire.

The fire spread quickly and London was trapped in her apartment - she was found unconscious in her bathroom by firefighting crews. London was hospitalized for urgent care but the medical crews were unable to save her life, and she died last Friday.

Last week the Arab arsonists were arrested in addition to another friend of theirs who was involved in planning the incident. The three do not deny their actions but claim they didn't intend to kill anyone.

Firefighter Chaim Mizrahi, an officer in the fire department who was the first to the scene, described the destruction at the time.

"We reached the fire at a building on Betzalel Street in Pisgat Ze'ev within three minutes from the time we were called up," he reported. "When I arrived at the scene I saw a three-story villa with massive flames and heavy smoke pouring from the windows of the second story."

Mizrahi added "we immediately started searching the villa and I realized the top two stories were divided into several rental apartments. The second story was burning with a massive fire and it was reported to us that someone was trapped on the top floor."