52-year-old man shot to death in broad daylight in Lod

A man in his 50s was shot dead in broad daylight in the city of Lod on Friday.

The victim, identified by the Ynet news site as Lod resident Marwan Wachwach, 52, was found unconscious and without a pulse inside a car on Ben Gurion Boulevard in the city.

He was evacuated to the Shamir Medical Center in critical condition while paramedics administered life-saving treatment. He was pronounced dead shortly after arriving.

Police forces began scanning the area for suspects, while forensic teams gathered evidence from the scene. An investigation has been opened, police said.

A few blocks away, police located a vehicle that was set on fire and were looking into a possible connection to the shooting, according to Ynet.

The report also said that the victim’s brother was killed two years ago under similar circumstances.

לוד: ירי מרכב חולף, החשודים נמלטו והציתו את הרכב מאחורי המגרש של צעירי לוד, סריקות במקום. פצוע במצב אנוש תוך כדי החייאה פונה לאסה"ר. @N12News pic.twitter.com/n6B8t6x5J2

— אור רביד | Or Ravid (@OrRavid) August 26, 2022

Separately on Friday, a man in his 30s was seriously injured after being shot in an open field near the Arab town of Manda in the lower Galilee.

He was evacuated to the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa.

In an effort to apprehend the culprit, police erected roadblocks in the area.

Friday’s incidents follow a spate of crime-related shootings in the Arab community in the past few weeks.

Last weekend, four individuals were injured in shooting incidents across the country, including a 10-year-old boy who was hit by a stray bullet near the Arab town of Ein Mahil in northern Israel.

Arab communities have seen a surge in violence in recent years. Many blame the police, who they say have failed to crack down on powerful criminal organizations and largely ignore the violence, which includes family feuds, mafia turf wars and violence against women.

According to the Abraham Initiatives, a group campaigning against violence in the Arab community, 70 Israeli Arabs have been killed in crime-related incidents since the beginning of the year. Among the 70 victims, 58 were shot to death and 41 were younger than 30.