As Arab man killed by gunmen dressed as cops, watchdog urges Ben Gvir to resign over failure to stop crime wave

A 25-year-old man was shot dead overnight by unknown assailants in Arraba, an Arab city in the Galilee, police and paramedics say.

The victim, named as Khaled Bilal Asla, was killed in his home after two attackers masquerading as police officers arrived at his doorstep. It was a targeted killing, and the perpetrators first asked around on the street regarding the victims residence, Ynet reports.

The attackers were greeted at the door by Asla’s mother, then entered and shot the young man. They also shot Asla’s special needs brother in the leg, just after he had recovered from a surgery and had started walking again. He was taken to a nearby hospital with light injuries, Magen David Adom paramedics say.

Security camera footage of the incident published by Ynet shows the two faux police officers arriving on the steps of his home and then entering. Seconds later, the killers flee the scene, rushing back down the steps and to their car.

Police have opened an investigation into the shooting, the third to rock Arab society in the past 24 hours.

The Abraham Initiatives organization, which tracks Arab murder victims, has called on National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to resign over the soaring murder rate plaguing Arab society.

Since the start of 2025, 172 Arab Israelis have been killed in violent incidents, a 12% increase from the same period last year, the group says.

The organization accuses the government, specifically Ben Gvir and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, of having “failed miserably in dealing with crime in Arab society.”

“In any civilized country, the person in charge of dealing with such a failed phenomenon would immediately resign,” the organization says.