Man shot dead in Lod in apparent gangland assassination

A man was shot dead Monday in the central Israeli town of Lod in what appeared to be a gangland assassination resulting from a turf war between two crime families.

The victim, who medical teams said was in his 50s, was fatally injured when a man fired at the car he was traveling in with two other people. One of the other passengers was lightly injured, according to a police statement.

The shooter fled the scene, police said.

Magen David Adom and United Hatzalah paramedics declared the man dead at the scene.

Police said that the incident was criminal in nature and not terrorism, and that they were investigating the likelihood it was part of an ongoing turf war between two crime families in Israel’s central region.

All further details of the incident and the ongoing investigation have been placed under a court-imposed gag order.

Earlier Monday, a 36-year-old man was moderately injured by a car bomb in the northern coastal city of Acre also thought to have been an attempted gang-related assassination.

Police said an investigation into the blast on Avraham Ben Shushan Street had been opened.

The victim was treated at the scene by Magen David Adom paramedics for bleeding and bruising to his lower body, and was later taken to Rambam Hospital in Haifa for further treatment.