Three men shot dead in central city of Ramle where two brothers were killed yesterday

Three men were shot dead in the central city of Ramle earlier today, according to police.

The men were all in their 30s.

Police have opened an investigation into the incident, and Haaretz reports that it is related to a shooting less than 24 hours earlier in the same city where brothers Matin and Jamal al-Shmali were killed near an elementary school in the Jawarish neighborhood.

Those two victims reportedly had two other brothers who were killed in previous shootings in 2019 and 2020. After opening an investigation into the double homicide, police arrested three Ramle residents suspected of involvement in the crime.

Since the start of the year, 72 Arab Israelis have been killed in violent criminal incidents, indicating that the sharp spike in the Arab homicide rate seen under National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has far from subsided.