15-year-old boy shot, killed in Nazareth after phone call telling him to leave house

A 15-year-old boy was shot and killed in Nazareth on Saturday night, the second teenager murdered in the city within days amid a soaring crimewave within the Arab community.

According to Hebrew media reports, Azmi Gharib received a phone call from someone asking him to leave the house, and was shot soon after that. It was unclear where exactly he was when he was shot.

The 10th grader was taken in critical condition to a hospital, where medics declared his death.

A police investigation has been opened into the circumstances of the boy’s death. No arrests have been reported.

Gharib was the second teenager to be shot and killed in the city within days — on Monday, Adham Nasser and his 15-year-old son Nadim were killed while installing security cameras outside a house in the city. The assailants likely misidentified them.

The Abraham Initiatives, a coexistence watchdog that tracks violence in the Arab community, said that Gharib was the 16th Arab to be killed in violent circumstances since the start of the year, 11 days ago. Thirteen of the homicides were shooting deaths.

The watchdog said that during the same period last year, two people were killed.

Last year, the number of Arab homicide victims reached an all-time high of 252.

Community leaders accuse the government of instituting policies that have allowed violent organized crime to proliferate in Arab towns and say police have largely failed to combat the problem, placing particular blame on National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, the far-right politician responsible for law enforcement.

Ben Gvir has not made any public remarks about the killings in 2026 so far.

Police have denied neglecting the Arab community and accused criminals of hampering law enforcement efforts by intimidating residents into not reporting crimes.

Last week President Isaac Herzog said the rampant violent crime rocking Arab society was a “national challenge,” and blamed the issue on inequality.

Haifa building death

Separately, a man in his 50s died Saturday when he was apparently pushed from a building in Haifa.

A paramedic said the man had fallen some 6 meters (20 feet) to his death.

According to the Kan public broadcaster, a woman of South American origin at the scene with moderate injuries was arrested on suspicion of involvement in the man’s death.

The outlet said the two had been previously acquainted.