Four Arabs were killed in separate suspected homicides over a 24-hour period, as the community’s crime wave continues to soar, according to police and data released by a watchdog group.
In the latest killing, Mohammed Nur Yahya, 30, was shot dead in the central Israeli town of Kafr Qara in the early hours of Saturday.
Emergency services arriving on the scene declared him dead, Magen David Adom services said in a statement.
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Police said they had increased their presence in the city following the shooting.
Additionally, Faraj Abu Arar, 20, was killed in the southern town of Arara BaNegev, doctors said, and another man was moderately injured in the same incident.
Paramedics took the two victims to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba where Abu Arar was pronounced dead.
Illustrative: Police at the scene of a shooting in the central city of Lod, April 14, 2023. (Israel Police)
In Lod, during the day of Friday, Luay Sheikh Youssef, 23, was the target of gunfire in Rabbi Akiva Street. He later died from his injuries, according to police.
Also on Friday, Fakhri Abu Medigam, 25, was fatally stabbed and a man was seriously injured in the town of Rahat, a Bedouin town in the south of the country.
Paramedics took the two men to Soroka Hospital, where Abu Medigam was pronounced dead and the other victim was treated.
Israeli police said in a statement on Saturday that investigations had been opened into the four alleged killings. She said officers had recovered the weapons that had been used in some of the incidents and that seven people had already been arrested on suspicion of being involved in the killings.
On Saturday morning, Israel Police Commissioner David Levy brought together top commanders to review the situation and to gather information that was gathered as part of the investigations. He informed the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, the police noted.
Many leaders of the Israeli Arab community have attributed responsibility for the spiraling violence to the police. A police force which, they say, has been unable to repress criminal organizations and which has largely ignored the violence – family feuds, gang warfare and violence against women.
Since the start of 2024, 209 Arab Israelis have been killed in criminal incidents, according to the Abraham Initiatives, a monitoring group that tracks statistics related to crimes within the community.
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