Man shot dead in suspected gang-related hit in Jaffa

Police searching for assailant, who fled after firing at 26-year-old over 10 times; victim was reportedly involved in dispute with local crime family

By ToI Staff 16 March 2019, 2:59 am

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Illustrative: A police cruiser in the Israeli coastal town of Bat Yam on February 27, 2017. (Moti Karelitz/Flash90)

A man in his 20s was shot dead in the coastal city of Jaffa on Friday night in what police believe was a gang-related killing.

Ghanmen Hinawi, a 26-year-old resident of Lod, was rushed to Holon’s Wolfson Hospital in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds to his upper body, but was declared dead shortly after he arrived.

Eyewitnesses said the gunman fired around 10 bullets at Hinawi from close range before fleeing the scene.

Police have opened an investigation into the shooting on the city’s Dror Street, but investigators have indicated it was gang-related. Police said security forces were searching the area for the assailant.

According to reports, Hinawi was known to police for his criminal activity and was embroiled in a dispute with a well known crime family in Jaffa.

Drive-by shootings and car bombs set off as part of underworld gang wars have long wracked Israeli cities, with law enforcement authorities struggling to stem the phenomenon.

Hinawi’s death Friday was the third gang-related killing in Jaffa since December.