Man kills two family members, then takes his own life, in Nazareth mass shooting
40-year-old Iksal resident also injures five, two of them critically; 48 members of Arab community slain since start of 2024
A man fired at members of his family in Nazareth in northern Israel, killing two, before fatally turning the gun on himself, police said in a statement Tuesday.
According to the statement, the three people killed in the incident were in their 40s. The Kan public broadcaster identified the assailant as a resident of Iksal, southeast of Nazareth, who arrived at his father-in-law’s house in Nazareth’s al-Fahoura neighborhood and opened fire, hitting his wife, brother-in-law and father-in-law, among others.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service said it found four people unconscious at the scene of the shooting. It later issued a statement identifying the three deceased as men, adding that two people were critically injured in the incident, a woman of 40 was severely injured and another woman in her 70s was moderately injured.
MDA said the injured people were hospitalized in Nazaereth’s English and Italian hospitals, as well as Afula’s Emek Medical Center.
It is unclear what the shooter’s motive was, nor the particular relation each victim had with him.
The Arab community in Israel has suffered from recurring violence. In Nazareth, a young man of 20 was moderately injured in a brawl on Monday.
Kan said that Tuesday’s shooting brings the number of Arabs killed in violent circumstances in 2024 so far to 48.
The previous year had been the bloodiest year on record in the Arab community, the Abraham Initiatives watchdog said, with 244 victims of violence, more than double the figure in 2022.
Many Arab Israeli community leaders put the blame on the police, who they say have failed to crack down on powerful criminal organizations and largely ignore the violence, which includes family feuds, mafia turf wars and violence against women.
The communities have also suffered from years of neglect by state authorities.
