Head of Galilee town shoots man dead outside city hall – report

The mayor of a Galilee town allegedly shot a man dead on Monday after the latter was said to have attacked him with an ax in the northern Druze town of Julis.

Local council chairman Salman Amar opened fire on the man, said to be a contractor in his 50s, after the two clashed in the plaza of the municipal building, Channel 10 reported.

An initial investigation found that there had been an ongoing dispute between the men for several weeks and that they had nearly come to blows in the past.

Witnesses said the contractor punched Amar and then tried to hit him with the ax. The council chief then allegedly fired in self defense, seriously injuring the attacker.

Magen David Adom paramedics tried to resuscitate the wounded man, who had a gunshot wound in his chest, but failed to save him and declared him dead at the scene.

In another violent incident Monday morning, a bomb exploded near a vehicle belonging to a resident of Rameh, an Arab town in the Galilee. There were no injuries in the blast and the motive behind the explosion was not clear. Police opened an investigation.