Arab man dies 2 months after being set alight while sleeping amid criminal dispute

An Arab man died Saturday, two months after a young man he apparently had a criminal dispute with set fire to his bed while he was sleeping.

According to police, Rafa Harsha, 61, from the northern town of Meiser, was seriously wounded in the arson attack in mid-August. Since then, his condition had deteriorated after suffering burns to more than 60% of his body.

Earlier this month, a man in his 20s accused of the attack was arrested by police and indicted for attempted murder.

Prosecutors said Muhammad Abu Abid, 22, also a resident of Meiser, decided to attack Harsha over a dispute between the two families.

“The accused entered the house of the complainant, who at the time was sleeping in his bed, poured a flammable substance on the complainant, and set him on fire. Immediately after that, the accused fled the scene,” the indictment read.

Prosecutors are expected to amend the charge from attempted murder to murder following Harsha’s death Saturday.

Harsha was hospitalized at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan.

Arab communities across the country 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, Harsha’s death marked the 91st Arab to have been killed in crime-related incidents in Israel since the beginning of the year.