23-year-old man shot and killed in Jaffa in apparent local criminal dispute

A man died Friday after being shot the day before in Jaffa in an incident police believe is related to a local criminal feud, the latest violent incident amid a crime wave that has plagued Arab Israeli communities in recent years.

Ahmed Deka, 23, was seriously injured after he was shot by unknown assailants while riding his motorcycle. He was taken to Wolfson Medical Center, where he succumbed to his wounds.

Police believe the incident is related to a local criminal feud, and have opened an investigation.

Local residents told the Ynet news site that Dega had “good relations with everyone around him,” and that they were “surprised” by the killing.

“We didn’t feel that he was under threat, he behaved normally,” a family friend told Ynet, and said he hoped the case would be solved.

“Unfortunately, the violence and crime do not end in Arab society. In every place, there is a risk to life. All the bodies responsible for our security have failed in the eradication of violence,” he added.

Arab Israelis protest rising violence, organized crime and recent killings in their communities, in the Arab town of Majd al-Krum in northern Israel. October 3, 2019. (David Cohen/Flash90)

Arab communities have seen a surge in violence in recent years amid a rise in organized crime and the proliferation of illegal weapons.

According to the Abraham Initiatives, which tracks violence in the Arab community, at least 95 Arabs have been killed in homicides in Israel since the beginning of the year, with 91 of them holding Israeli citizenship.

The majority of the victims were killed in shootings.