Man killed in Tamra as deadly crime wave in Arab community shows no sign of slowing
Ashraf Akawi, 34, critically injured, dies later in hospital; another person, 22, lightly injured by gunfire; 132 killed since start of year, over double the same period in 2022
A 34-year-old man from the northern city of Tamra was fatally shot early Wednesday morning, Israel Police said in a statement, as a deadly crime wave in the Arab community showed no signs of relenting.
Almost twice as many people have been killed since the beginning of the year as during the same period in 2022, with the government showing little sign of taking significant action on the matter.
The man was critically injured and taken to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa where doctors declared his death.
He was later named as Ashraf Akawi.
Another man, 22, was lightly injured in the shooting and taken to the hospital, police said.
The incident was apparently due to a feud between criminals, police said.
בעקבות ההודעה על רצח אשרף עכאווי (34) בטמרה, עמותת יוזמות אברהם מעדכנת:
????132 ערבים קיפחו את חייהם ב-2023 בנסיבות הקשורות לאלימות ולפשיעה, מהם 124 אזרחים.
????בתקופה המקבילה אשתקד היו 64 קורבנות pic.twitter.com/VyCQbTIfHb— Yasser Okbi (@OkbiYasser) July 26, 2023
The anti-violence Abraham Initiatives watchdog said that since the beginning of the year, 132 members of Arab community have been killed in violent and criminal circumstances. During the same period last year there were 64 deaths, it noted.
Of those killed since the start of this year, 119 were killed by gunfire.
On Monday a man was shot dead in Abu Snan, an Arab village near the northern town of Kafr Yasif, and on Tuesday, a man who was shot in the northern Arab town of Kafr Kanna on Saturday died of his injuries.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who campaigned on promises to beef up public safety and whose ministry oversees the police, has largely stayed quiet on the soaring crimewave, despite his ministry overseeing the police.
Many community leaders blame the crime wave on the police, who they say have failed to crack down on powerful criminal organizations and largely ignore the violence. They also point to decades of neglect and discrimination by government offices as the root cause of the problem.
The Times of Israel Community.