Surviving Lod twin moved for her safety, as police deploy to contain murder wave
Report says Maryam Hajaj, 14, whose mother and twin sister were shot dead, will be taken to safe location; exiled father, who has crime ties, says God will ‘take revenge’
A girl whose mother and twin sister were shot to death in a brutal attack that shocked the country will be moved to a secret location for her safety, according to a report Tuesday, as investigators continued to probe the double murder.
Maryam Hajaj, 14, was seriously injured in the Monday night attack in the central city of Lod that left her mother Manar Hajaj and sister Khadra Hajaj dead, the latest in an unrelenting wave of killings in Israel’s Arab community.
According to reports, Manar Hajaj and her daughters had been unpacking groceries from the vehicle when she and Khadra were shot at close range. Maryam tried to flee and was shot in the leg.
The teen — who survived, officers reportedly believe, because the weapon used in the attack jammed — was initially brought to Shamir Medical Center but will be moved to an undisclosed location out of fear for her life, the Haaretz newspaper reported Tuesday.
She will stay there until her situation is examined by a court, which will determine whether and how she will remain under special protection, according to the report.
Investigators have said the shooting could be linked to an ongoing gang dispute involving Manar Hajaj’s husband, Issam Hajaj, who was suspected four years ago in the slaying of another romantic partner of his, Samar Hatib, according to Hebrew media reports. The targeting of his relatives — who have no known ties to the crime world — could reportedly be an effort to take revenge on him.
Two of Issam’s sons and nephews were convicted of aiding Hatib’s murder and were sentenced to 10 years in prison. A week before her death, Hatib found a bomb under her car and testified to police that Hajaj had shouted at her and beat her during their last encounter in Colombia.
Further details about the current investigation are barred from publication by a court order. No arrests have been announced.
On Tuesday, Issam Hajaj, who fled Israel several years ago, issued a response to the murder, expressing anger at the “helplessness” of the police and at their attempts to tie the current killings to the murder of Hatib, according to Channel 12 news.
“From above, God is seeing everything and will take revenge at these lowly murderers,” he reportedly told his associates.
The network cited unnamed sources in the criminal underworld as saying revenge for the incident was “close.” Police, meanwhile, were increasingly deploying forces in Lod in an effort to contain a tide of violent crime that has claimed the lives of three Arab Israelis in the last week, and 75 since the start of the year.
Police commissioner Kobi Shabtai said Wednesday the assassin was Israel’s most-wanted man, and police “will not rest until we get our hands on him.” He said that law enforcement presence in the city would be bolstered.
According to the Abraham Initiative, which monitors violent crime in the Arab community, only nine of the first 68 murders this year have been cracked by the police.
According to the data, published Tuesday by the Kan public broadcaster, seven of the murder victims this year were under the age of 17, nine were over 50, and nine were women.
On Monday night, Lod Mayor Yair Revivo decried Israelis’ apathy toward the trend.
“There continues to be a crazy wave of violence raging in this country, especially in the Arab community, and I am sorry to say this, but the country is not waking up,” Revivo told the Ynet news site at the scene of the shooting. “If this number of murders were in the Jewish community, the country would come to a standstill.”
“This is a violation of the security of all the residents of the country — Jews and Arabs alike — and what infuriates and makes my blood boil is that these vile killers have no inhibitions. It is not about criminals who kill criminals, but people who are helpless and incapable of defending themselves, and it is simply terrible,” Revivo said.
Lod city council member Fida Shehada said the situation in the city was out of control, with the women having been attacked not far from the police station.
“They were quiet neighbors who never harmed anyone. We are living in the Wild West, where in the middle of the city of Lod — near the police station and city hall — women are murdered,” Shehada said.
On Tuesday morning, Prime Minister Yair Lapid held talks with security officials on the murders, as well as the general problem of rising crime in the Arab community, according to a statement from his office.
“The acts of violence and murder harm the citizens’ sense of security and their daily routine,” the statement read, adding that police would be working in Lod “to prevent acts of revenge” as well as increasing their presence in other so-called “mixed cities.”
The Times of Israel Community.