Man killed, teenager injured in Ramle shooting as deadly crime wave continues
47-year-old shot to death and youth moderately injured in central city, bringing toll in Arab community to 88 since start of the year; 24 arrested for alleged involvement in kiling
A shooting in the central city of Ramle on Saturday night left a man dead and a teenager wounded, as a relentless wave of violent crime in Arab communities continued.
The fatality in the Ramle shooting was identified in Hebrew media reports as Ismail al-Shamali, 47, a resident of the city’s Juarish neighborhood.
The 16-year-old boy was moderately wounded in the incident.
The two were rushed to a nearby hospital where the man was declared dead.
Witnesses said a car in the area had gone up in flames after the shooting. The vehicle was suspected to have been involved in the incident, Channel 12 reported.
Scuffles also broke out in the neighborhood after the attack, the report said.
Police said they had detained 24 people in the city for suspected involvement in the shooting.
In a separate incident, in the Bedouin town of Tel Sheva, a 45-year-old man was seriously wounded in a shooting.
Medics treated him at the scene and brought him to Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center for further care.
According to the Abraham Initiatives, an anti-violence monitor, at least 88 Arabs have been killed in Israel since the start of the year, 77 by gunfire.
Overall, there have been over 90 killings nationwide since 2023 began, more than twice the number in the same period for 2022.
Police minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a far-right lawmaker who campaigned on promises to beef up public safety, has largely stayed quiet on the soaring crimewave.
Critics say that in fact he is making policy decisions that actively endanger lives, such as scrapping an anti-crime drive in several Arab towns.
Last week, the opposition parties summoned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to a special debate on the country’s homicide rate. Addressing the plenum, Netanyahu issued a public invitation to Arab MKs to meet with him on the deadly violence in their community. According to a Channel 12 report, Arab lawmakers are insistent that Ben Gvir, leader of the Otzma Yehudit party, not be at the meeting.
