Man shot dead in Nazareth in incident reportedly linked to turf war
Shooting death brings toll of Arab Israelis killed by violent crimes so far in 2023 to 112, compared to 49 people during the equivalent period last year
A man was shot dead in Nazareth on Sunday evening, as the rate of violent crime in the Arab community in Israel showed no signs of abating.
The man arrived in critical condition at the EMSS Nazareth Hospital, which said in a statement that he had shown up with gunshot wounds and that the medical staff had been unable to save his life.
According to Haaretz, police believe that the man was killed as part of a deadly ongoing feud between the Hariri and Bakri criminal families in Israel.
The same feud, which has taken dozens of lives over the past few years, was also reportedly responsible for a massacre near Nazareth last month in which five people were killed at a car wash in Yafa an-Naseriyye.
Since the beginning of the year, 112 Arabs have been killed violently in Israel, according to the Abraham Initiatives. Of those, 100 were killed by gunfire and 65 of them were under the age of 30. At the same point in 2022, 49 people in the community had been killed.
Last week, a father and son were shot dead in Shfaram, the same day that three other people were killed in shooting incidents in Shfaram, Kafr Kanna and Rahat.
Authorities have not stopped the bloodletting despite promising more resources, including more police and funds to deal with societal issues underpinning the crime wave.
Many community leaders blame 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.
