Parents killed in front of child in drive-by shooting in southern Israel

A woman and her husband were gunned down as they sat in a parked car in the southern town of Lakiya late Wednesday.

Their 8-year-old son, who was in the car with them at the time of the shooting, did not suffer physical harm.

Medics said Aziza Albaridi was killed instantly from the gunfire. Her husband Sliman Albaridi was rushed to a local hospital, but also declared dead shortly later. Both were in their 40s.

Authorities believe the shooter opened fire from another car as part of a family dispute, according to Hebrew media reports. Police have opened an investigation and are searching for the gunman or gunmen.

The shooting took place near the entrance to Lakiya, a Bedouin town of some 12,000 north of Beersheba in the northern Negev.

Eyewitnesses said the son was in shock after the shooting, and was taken in by family members.

“He didn’t understand what had happened. He had a look like someone who has just woken up from surgery and can’t figure out what’s happening around them,” an eyewitness told the Haaretz daily.

Suspected underworld hit in Herzliya

Police are also investigating a suspected murder in Herzliya, where a man, 35, was shot to death while riding on his motorcycle.

Police believe the killing may have been an assassination tied to fighting among underworld crime families, according to the Ynet news website.

The shooting occurred on Tzela Tzafon street in an upscale neighborhood of the coastal city north of Tel Aviv.

Police said they were searching for the assailant.

On July 24, a man was killed when a car bomb exploded in southern Tel Aviv, it what police believe was either a gangland assassination or a botched attempt to carry out an underworld hit.