Man moderately hurt in apparent underworld shooting in Jerusalem

A man was moderately hurt in an apparent criminal shooting in Jerusalem on Tuesday, police and medics said.

Paramedics treated the man for gunshot wounds, then took him to Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center, according to a Magen David Adom ambulance service statement.

Police said in a statement the man, in his 30s, was shot on Neve Yaacov Boulevard in the capital by an unknown assailant on a motorbike who fled the scene.

According to a preliminary investigation, the background of the incident was criminal in nature and not a terror attack.

The victim was not immediately identified.

Israel has experienced a spike in violent crime this year, in particular due to a violent turf war between crime syndicates.

Much of the crime has focused on Arab towns and neighborhoods, but not exclusively.

According to the anti-violence advocacy group the Abraham Initiatives, 152 Arabs have been killed in criminal incidents this year alone, more than double 2022’s number at this point in the year.

On Monday evening, Abed Rahman Kashua, 60, the director-general of the municipality of Tira, an Arab-majority town in central Israel, was fatally gunned down, sparking a call for intervention from the interior minister and the Shin Bet security service, as authorities have struggled to rein in the spate of killings.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.