Two people shot dead within hours in Arab cities amid unabating homicide wave
36-year-old man found lying unconscious in Kafr Qara, hours after 88-year-old woman shot and killed in Arraba
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
Two members of Israel’s Arab minority were shot dead in separate incidents on Thursday, as violent crime continues seemingly unabated in the community.
On Thursday night, a 36-year-old man was shot dead in the central Arab city of Kafr Qara.
Paramedics found the victim lying unconscious on the ground with several bullet wounds and pronounced him dead at the scene. He was identified as Ahmad Said Atamneh, according to the Arabic-language outlet Arab48.
Police said they were investigating the incident and that they erected ad hoc checkpoints in the town in their search for suspects, adding that three people had been arrested so far.
Earlier on Thursday, an elderly woman was shot dead in the northern city of Arraba. The assailant apparently shot the victim, 88-year-old Latifa Naif Naamneh Shahin, by accident, and had been aiming at parked cars in the vicinity of her home, the Ynet news site reported.
Medics found Shahin lying unconscious in a yard with several bullet wounds. They took her to a nearby medical center in critical condition, but she soon succumbed to her injuries.
Police said that they opened an investigation into the circumstances of the shooting, but had not yet arrested any suspects.
Since the start of 2025, 152 Arab Israelis have been killed in violent incidents, according to a statement from the Abraham Initiatives, which tracks Arab murder victims, following Thursday’s shootings.
Of the victims, 130 were killed by gunfire, 74 were under the age of 30, 15 were women, three were under the age of 18, and nine were shot by police, according to the Abraham Initiatives.
At this point in time in 2024, the number of Arab murder victims stood at 133, marking a 13% increase in an already soaring murder rate.
The number of Arab murder victims doubled in 2023, coinciding with the beginning of Itamar Ben Gvir’s term as national security minister. Local Arab politicians have often placed blame on police for failing to solve Arab sector murders, contributing to a lack of deterrence against violent crime.
The Times of Israel Community.