Arab man shot dead in Acre, 204th victim this year

A man in his thirties was shot dead early Thursday in the northern coastal city of Acre, near Haifa, in what police said was a criminal incident.

Paramedics found the man dead on the city’s Jerusalem Street with gunshot wounds.

Police were investigating the murder.

Since the start of the year, there have been 204 violent crime fatalities in Arab Israeli communities, compared to 92 deaths during the same period last year, according to the Abraham Initiatives organization, which tracks the figures.

The killings are part of a violent crime wave that has engulfed the Arab community in recent years, with police proving unable to stem the tide of killings in the community. Local Arab leaders have blamed poor enforcement, powerful criminal organizations and decades of neglect and discrimination by the government.

Israeli authorities have also blamed burgeoning organized crime and the proliferation of weaponry, while some have pointed to a failure by communities to cooperate with law enforcement to root out criminals.