Cops raid Nazareth after 4 murdered in 24 hours, arrest 30 over alleged gangland killings

Police arrested 30 people in Nazareth in two overnight operations early Thursday and early Friday on suspicion of involvement in gang violence, as a 30-year-old man was shot and killed in the Arab Israeli city, becoming the fourth homicide victim there in less than 24 hours.

In a statement, police said dozens of officers stormed several compounds belonging to gangs, and “in several cases” arrested suspects who tried to escape, chasing them down on foot before taking them into custody.

The officers seized “a large number of weapons,” police said in a statement, including a hand grenade, a handgun and ammunition, “and thus prevented their use in the [gangland] conflict.”

“The Israel Police has been operating intensely in Nazareth over the last year, and has managed to put heads of the Bakri crime organization in prison,” the statement continued.

“The internal struggle of local criminal gangs will be answered with uncompromising strength and determination, in order to protect citizens’ security and wellbeing,” the police said.

Police said 10 suspects were arrested overnight Thursday-Friday, in addition to 20 who were arrested in the city the previous night, including a murder victim’s brother whose remand was extended on Thursday until September 8.

Meanwhile, a 30-year-old man was shot and killed Thursday evening, making him the fourth homicide victim in the city in less than 24 hours.

The latest casualty was identified by the Abraham Initiatives watchdog as Mahmoud Biatra.

According to Channel 13, a preliminary investigation indicated that the killer knocked on the victim’s door while disguised as a food delivery worker, then shot him nine times when he opened it.

Biatra was pronounced dead at Nazareth’s Holy Family Hospital, where medics rushed him after finding him without a pulse and not breathing, according to the Magen David Adom ambulance service.

His death came after, on Wednesday evening, gunmen shot Noor Nafafea, 31, and his neighbor and relative Noor Khlo, 20, who were in a car together. The killers reportedly fired some 20 bullets at point-blank range.

Both men were known to police as figures connected to organized crime, the Haaretz daily reported.

About two hours later, Mustafa Badra, 27, was killed by gunmen who drove up to his house as he was sitting in his courtyard with friends. According to his family, he tried to escape, but injured himself doing so, and was then shot.

The gunmen were thought to be taking revenge for the earlier double homicide, according to Hebrew media.

קורבנות אירועי הרצח בעיר נצרת הם: באירוע הראשון נור נפאפעה ונור אלחלו נורו למוות ומותם נקבע במקום. באירוע השני נרצח הצעיר מוסטפא בדרא. pic.twitter.com/DN8xlPKDu8

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The incidents took place amid a prolonged violent crime epidemic in Israel’s Arab community that authorities have for years failed to quell.

According to the Abraham Initiatives coexistence watchdog’s latest figures, updated on Friday, 172 members of Israel’s Arab community have been killed this year, as 2026 continues to outpace last year as the bloodiest year on record in Israel.

Homicides in Arab society soared to 244 in 2023 — more than double the previous year — and have stayed high each year since, with many blaming far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir for inaction since he took office.