Two suspects killed, police officer seriously wounded in shootout in north
Third suspect seriously hurt after officers intercept trio in village of Iksal; group reportedly heading to kill member of rival crime family; separately, man shot dead in south
Two men were killed and a police officer was seriously injured in a criminal shootout in the northern Arab Israeli village of Iksal, Israel Police said in a statement Saturday.
The exchange of fire happened as officers moved to intercept a trio of armed suspects, reportedly as they were headed to kill a member of a rival group.
Police, along with Border Police and National Guard personnel, were carrying out efforts to thwart criminal activities in the Lower Galilee region when they moved in to stop an armed group “that was on its way to carry out a hit or other serious crime,” the statement said.
Officers chased and stopped the criminal’s vehicle, at which point the occupants opened fire with a Kalashnikov rifle and a pistol.
Police returned fire, killing two of the suspects and seriously injuring a third, who was taken to the hospital, the statement said.
One of the police officers was seriously injured during the exchange. He is 28 and from the police undercover unit, the Haaretz daily reported.
חילופי אש באכסאל שליד נצרת: שני חמושים נהרגו, שוטר נפצע קשה | תיעודhttps://t.co/BGU9SMmUkC pic.twitter.com/yqHfzYwjPH
— ynet עדכוני (@ynetalerts) April 26, 2025
An unnamed police source told Haaretz that the three suspects were members of the Hariri crime family and were en route to kill a member of the rival Bakri crime family as part of a long-running feud.
Hours later, a young man was shot dead in the Bedouin city of Rahat in the northern Negev region in an apparently separate incident.
Anan Abu Eid, 19, was shot by assailants who then fled the scene, police said, adding that they have launched an investigation and believe the motive was a criminal feud.
Another man, reportedly Abu Eid’s brother, 22, was moderately injured in the same incident.
The man’s killing took the death toll of members of the Arab community killed by violence since the beginning of the year to 83, according to coexistence watchdog the Abraham Initiatives, which tracks the violence.
Of those, 74 were shot, the group said, noting that during the same period last year, there were 64 fatalities.
An unprecedented crime epidemic that has gripped the community in recent years. Earlier this month, five Arab Israelis were killed within 48 hours.
The vast majority of Arab sector murder cases are left unsolved by law enforcement, with many community leaders criticizing police for not doing enough to deter violent crime in Arab locales.
The Times of Israel Community.