2 shot and killed in separate incidents as Arab community toll reaches 182

Two men were shot and killed in separate incidents on Sunday evening as the unprecedented crime wave in the Arab community showed no sign of relenting.

A 25-year-old man was shot near the entrance to the central city of Tayibe. Paramedics said they found him in a critical condition and took him to Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba, where he was pronounced dead.

He was later named as Tayibe resident Amr Abd al-Qadr.

In an apparently separate incident, a 43-year-old man was shot dead in Kabul in the north of the country.

He was named as Ashkar Ashkar. According to the Haaretz daily, it was believed he was killed as part of a family dispute.

The Abraham Initiatives anti-violence advocacy group said the killings were the 181st and 182nd cases of Arabs killed in violent circumstances in Israel since the start of the year, compared to 80 during the same period in 2022.

Of those slain this year, 165 were killed by gunfire, the group said.

The killings are part of a violent crime wave that has engulfed the Arab community in recent years. Many community leaders blame the police, who they say have failed to crack down on powerful criminal organizations and largely ignore the violence. They also point to decades of neglect and discrimination by government offices as the root cause of the problem.

On Saturday night, a man was shot and critically wounded in Haifa and was taken to Rambam Medical Center in the city, where doctors declared his death.

Media outlets identified the man as Edmund Dibi, in his 50s. According to initial findings, the killing was the result of a feud between families.

Also on Saturday evening, a man was shot and killed in a separate incident in the southern Bedouin city of Rahat, MDA said. Media outlets identified the man as Bashar Abu Zajilah, 18.