One man killed, another seriously wounded in shooting in northern town of I’billin

One man was killed and another was seriously wounded in a shooting early Friday morning in the northern town of I’billin, police and medics said.

Police were carrying out searches in the area and said the shooting appeared to be related to a turf war between rival crime families.

Magen David Adom medics said that a 34-year-old man was found dead at the scene with gunshot wounds. Another man, 33, was seriously wounded and transported to the Rambam hospital in Haifa.

The shooting is the latest for the Arab community, which is contending with an unrelenting wave of deadly crime.

Arab communities in Israel have seen a surge in violence in recent years, driven mainly, but not exclusively, by organized crime.

Arab Israelis say police have failed to crack down on powerful criminal organizations and for years largely ignored the violence, which includes family feuds, mafia turf wars and attacks on women.

The Abraham Initiatives, which monitors and campaigns against violence in the Arab community, said 112 Arab Israeli citizens were killed in apparent homicides in 2022. Another four Palestinians have been killed in Israeli territory.

Thirteen of those killed in violent and crime-related incidents last year were women, the nonprofit said.