An eight-year-old boy was shot dead near the southern city of Tel Sheva while partaking in a wedding convoy Friday, police and paramedics say.
The shooting injured six other people, one who is in serious condition, the other five with minor injuries.
The victim, Yousef Awad Abu Rqayiq, succumbed to his wounds after being taken by paramedics to Soroka Medical Center.
Haaretz reports that eyewitnesses say the boy was shot at close range, raising police’s suspicions that he was the intended target of the shooting, which officers speculate was a revenge attack related to feuding criminal groups in Bedouin society.
Police say that large number of forces from the Southern District are operating in Tel Sheva and its surrounding area to probe the incident and locate suspects.
Violent crime in Arab society has spiraled in recent years, claiming 91 lives since the start of 2025.
Earlier this week, Israel’s Channel 12 news reported an 84% jump in the number of Arab community homicides compared to the same time last year, citing the Abraham Initiatives organization.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Saturday, May 10, 2025
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
