‘3 innocent people from my family were killed for no reason,’ says Abu Snan resident

Funerals took place on Wednesday in the northern Israeli village of Abu Snan for three cousins of the Druze Sa’ab family killed in a shooting attack the night before.

“Three innocent people from my family were killed for no reason,” said Brig. Gen. (res.) Anwar Sa’ab, a cousin of the three: Ghazi Sa’ab, 53, Zohair al-Din Sa’ab, 45, and Amir Sa’ab, 28. A fourth victim in Tuesday’s shooting, Salman Halabi, hailed from the nearby town of Yarca.

“They had no connection to crime whatsoever,” Anwar Sa’ab told The Times of Israel. “We are a normative family of educated people, academics or business owners. The three victims all served in the IDF and were reservists,” he added. “We have never had any connections with the criminal world. My cousins were unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

One of the three, Ghazi Sa’ab, a former high-ranking Border Police officer, had only just launched his election campaign for local elections a few hours before being murdered.

“Ghazi was running for office for the third time after two unsuccessful attempts. He wanted to spread a message of peace, bring unity and do good for the community,” Anwar Sa’ab said.

“We want to know from the security forces what happened, because we cannot fathom it. There is no crime in this town. Druze, Christians and Muslims have been living here peacefully since before the State of Israel was founded. We are also in good relations with our Jewish neighbors.

“The whole country should come to a halt after what happened on Tuesday. You go to your farm to drink coffee, and they kill you,” Sa’ab added. The four men were gunned down in an olive grove outside the village, in a difficult-to-reach area, sparking allegations that they may have been drawn there and ambushed by someone they knew.

“It’s unthinkable that in 21st century Israel, which is a great country, crimes like this can happen, and nobody knows why. The government has enough security forces and technology to defend civilians,” Sa’ab said. “They can involve the Shin Bet, or whatever other body they want. This has nothing to do with politics.”

He added that unspecified government officials had contacted the family and intended to come to Abu Snan to pay their respects to the victims, and that National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was expected to speak with the family later on Wednesday.

All four victims belonged to the Druze minority. Druze leaders announced a strike in community institutions on Wednesday and blamed the police and government for the lack of security. In a statement, a community leader placed the blame for the surging crime wave entirely on the Israel Police and the government and appealed to the prime minister to take firm measures to end the carnage.

The quadruple killing took place only one day after the homicide of the director-general of another Arab municipality. Abdel Rahman Kashua, from Tira in central Israel, was shot dead on Monday night in what some experts claim to be an escalation of violence against Arab politicians in the lead-up to local elections.

Kashua’s funeral was also held on Wednesday, in a ceremony attended by hundreds, including politicians.

تغطية صحفية: جانب من تشييع جثمان عبدالرحمن قشوع مدير عام بلدية الطيرة المحتلة، والذي قتل برصاص مجهولين. pic.twitter.com/sLxbZTbhrt

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) August 23, 2023

In an interview to the Arabic-language public broadcaster Makan, Tira Mayor Mamoun Abd al-Hay suggested that the crime surge was “planned” by the “racist” government, and added: “They want us living in a sea of blood, they want us not to have a future.”

The mayor accused police of going to great lengths to fight crime in Jewish cities while completely neglecting Arab communities, and addressed a message to Jewish Israelis, asking for their support and partnership in defending Arab citizens’ right to life and safety.

According to the Abraham Initiatives anti-violence advocacy group, 156 members of Israel’s Arab community have been killed since the start of the year, mostly in shootings. During the same time frame last year, 68 were killed.

The Shin Bet security agency has reportedly joined the investigation into the latest killings, while new options are being explored to put an end to the ongoing killings. Minister Ben Gvir has called for the power to hold suspected criminals without charges — a tool known as administrative detention, frequently used by military authorities in the West Bank, but not inside Israel. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has opposed using the measure for citizens.