Man killed in northern town as record murder rate accelerates

A 50-year-old man was shot to death in the northern town of Deir al-Assad early this morning, authorities say, marking the second killing in Arab communities within hours.

Wissam Dabah was found shot to death in a car in the lower Galilee town, according to reports. Hours earlier, a 21-year-old man named as Adam al-Oubarah, was gunned down in Rahat, in what police believe was a blood feud between rival clans in the southern Bedouin city.

The deaths are the 193rd and 194th to strike Arab society so far this year, according to the Abraham Initiatives advocacy group, marking a 9 percent increase over last year’s record-breaking murder rate. There have been six such killings in the first five days of October alone.