Teenager shot dead in northern town amid ongoing Arab community crime wave
Hamza Shadi Zoabi is the 27th Arab in Israel to be killed in suspected murder this year
A 17-year-old was shot dead in the northern Arab town of Tamra on Wednesday.
The victim was identified by Hebrew media as Hamza Shadi Zoabi.
Two others were lightly injured in the shooting and brought to a hospital in Afula for treatment.
Officers arrested three suspects in connection to the shooting, which a police statement said was likely linked to a familial dispute.
Police were collecting evidence at the scene and further investigating the circumstances of the killing.
“There was a big commotion in the area,” said a Magen David Adom medic who arrived at the scene. “The injured people were in the street and one of them was unconscious with penetrative wounds. He had no pulse and wasn’t breathing.”
“The two other injured people were fully conscious and had injuries on their heads and upper bodies,” the medic said.
Tamra is in the Galilee region of northern Israel, to the east of Haifa.
חמזה שאדי זועבי הוא הנער שנורה למוות בטמרה
(אורלי אלקלעי) pic.twitter.com/apPqdN0nR5
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) March 8, 2023
According to the Abraham Initiatives watchdog, the fatality was the 27th Arab in Israel to be killed in a homicide since the start of the year.
Last week, four Arabs were killed in a span of 72 hours.
One of the killings was in the central town of Ramle, and two others in a shooting incident in the northern town of Dir Al Assad.
The Ramle shooting was believed linked to a family feud and the Dir Al Assad incident to a conflict in the criminal underworld.
Arab communities have seen a rising wave of violence in recent years. Many blame the 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.
