Police minister says Rahat violence ‘intolerable,’ reinforcements to be sent in
Israel’s top cop equates recent gun battles in southern Bedouin town with terrorism, after 14-year-old moderately hurt during apparent feud between two families
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Public Security Minister Omer Barlev said the rampant violence that plagued the southern town of Rahat over the weekend was “intolerable,” and vowed to send in large police forces after repeated shootings were reported in the predominantly Bedouin city on Saturday and Sunday, targeting multiple homes and businesses, and moderately wounding a teenage girl.
In a statement, Barlev said police “are obligated to act to stamp out crime in the city. The residents of Rahat have a right to live in security.”
He said police will act using all measures at their disposal to capture criminals.
The shootings, which carried on throughout Saturday night and into Sunday, are believed to be part of a dispute between the al-Bahiri and al-Ubara families in the town. The predominantly Bedouin town of Rahat and the surrounding area have for years had a noted lack of police presence and law enforcement and regularly sees lawlessness and unrest.
On Sunday, the mayor of Rahat, Faiz Abu Sahiban, said that the situation in the town was like the “Wild West” and called on the government to deploy forces to restore order.
“There’s a war now, shooting in the streets, shooting at businesses. We’re in the Wild West,” Abu Sahiban told the Kan public broadcaster. “Let them bring all the forces, land and sea, helicopters and drones. There are no police.”
Earlier in the day, Israel Police chief Kobi Shabtai said police view the shootings on restaurants and cultural institutions that were seen in Rahat as a form of terrorism.
“Anyone who carries illegal weapons and endangers innocent civilians — [what happens] is on their own heads,” he said. “We will invest large forces and resources to bring the criminals to justice.”
Shabtai added that several suspects have already been arrested and weapons confiscated over the latest outburst of violence in Rahat.
Shabtai made his remarks after visiting the town and meeting with local law enforcement as well as municipal and state officials.
Shots were fired into a private home shortly after Shabtai left the town.
A 14-year-old girl, Remas Abu Ali, was moderately wounded overnight when she was shot in the abdomen while at home in Rahat during a firefight between the al-Bahiri and al-Ubara families in the early hours of Sunday morning.
She was taken to Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center, where she underwent surgery.
According to police reports and video footage, gunmen fired at a number of homes and businesses in the town overnight and on Sunday morning.
Abu Ali’s mother told the Kan public broadcaster that police had ignored their calls about sustained gunfire nearby in the run-up to the shooting of the teen.
“There was shooting all night. There was no police. We called and reported it, and each time we were told it was being taken care of,” Nahmido Abu Ali said.
ירי בלתי-פוסק ברחבי רהט החל מסיום סעודת האיפטר אמש ועד 05:00 הבוקר – כחלק מהסכסוך בין משפחות אל בחירי ואל עוברה שבמסגרתו בוצע הירי בבתי הקפה לפני כשבועיים. חמושים ירו הלילה על בתים וחנויות מתוך כלי רכב ובתים. בת 14 נפצעה בינוני מהירי. שלושה נעצרו@pozailov1 https://t.co/rDfCxPA6Bv pic.twitter.com/JbgeKwvOBZ
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) April 24, 2022
“[Remas] was injured at 5 a.m. while she was inside the house. I did not see any police units in Rahat from the start of the shooting until I got to the hospital,” she said.
“They only came after the hospital reported to [the police] that [my daughter] was injured. The shooting continued for another hour after she was shot. There is no security in this country for Arabs,” she said.
Three people have been arrested in connection with the shooting, although it was unclear if they were directly tied to the incident in which the girl was injured.
הירי ברהט: גם הבוקר רעולי פנים ריססו ברובי M16 חנות נדרשו לשלם דמי חסות@pozailov1 pic.twitter.com/UYiQNRMmgc
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) April 24, 2022
Arab communities in Israel have seen a surge in violence in recent years, driven mainly, but not exclusively, by organized crime.
Arab Israelis blame 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.
The Arab community has also generally suffered from decades of neglect in terms of government funding and attention.
The Rahat shooting came hours after a 33-year-old woman was shot and critically injured outside her home in the Arab town of Qalansawe, east of Netanya.
An unidentified man fled the scene after firing at the woman as she stood beside her car.
The Times of Israel Community.