Protests mount as crime wave in Arab cities claims 209th victim this year
Northern Arab city in shock after 53-year-old shot dead in his home by assailants who also injured his wife; hundreds in Kafr Yasif protest surging crime wave, blame police
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A 53-year-old man was killed Thursday night in Tamra, after unknown assailants ambushed him and his wife in the couple’s home.
The victim, Muhammad Wafiq Hejazi, was the 209th Arab citizen to fall victim to homicide since the start of the year, as protests mounted against a violent crime wave that continues unabated in Arab cities and towns throughout Israel.
“People are in shock, we still don’t know what the murder was about,” a resident of Tamra told The Times of Israel, saying the slain victim had no known criminal history.
Assailants broke into Hejazi’s home at around 9 p.m. and opened fire on him and his wife, who was moderately injured in the shooting. Both were taken to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. Two hours later, Hejazi succumbed to his wounds.
Police said last night that they had launched an investigation and are searching for suspects in the incident. No arrests have yet been reported.
Aziz Buqai, a doctor from Tamra, eulogized his slain neighbor as a “kind neighbor and big-hearted man” of “good standing and conduct.”
“I never heard him insulting or cursing. He was nothing but grateful for his destiny and his share in the world… striving for the happiness of his home and family,” he wrote on Facebook.
Hejazi was killed just hours after hundreds in the northern town of Kafr Yasif took to the streets in protest, demanding firmer police action against the crime wave.
Residents of the town were still mourning the recent death of Nidal Masadeh, a 35-year-old school security guard shot last week while at work.
Among those demonstrating yesterday evening were Ra’am party head Mansour Abbas, Hadash-Ta’al MK Aida Touma Suleiman and other prominent figures among Israel’s Arab minority. Protesters marched holding a banner in Arabic that read: “The police are neglecting their duty.”
انطلاق المظاهرة القطرية في كفر ياسيف احتجاجًا على مقتل حارس المدرسة
المرحوم نضال مساعدة ❗️جراء تعرضه لاطلاق نار على باب المدرسة في البلدة قبل أيام، وللتنديد بتصاعد أعمال العنف والجريمة في المجتمع العربي. pic.twitter.com/e50DMcduKe— |فرات نصار|פוראת נסאר|FURAT NASSAR (@nassar_furat) October 23, 2025
Many Arab mayors and other public figures have insisted that police are neglecting the worsening rate of crime in their communities, citing a skyrocketing murder rate and law enforcement’s failure to solve most homicide cases.
Others, like Rahat mayor Talal al-Kernawi, say police are attempting to deal with the issue but are ill-equipped, in terms of both technology and manpower, to tackle rampant arms trafficking and increasingly powerful gangs.
The Times of Israel Community.