Woman killed, another critically hurt in shooting at home in Lod
Police say five arrested in connection with attack, investigated as feud between clans as crime wave persists
A woman was killed and another was wounded in a shooting in the central city of Lod Saturday night, as a violent crime wave continued to spiral in the Arab community.
Both victims, in their 60s, were found unconscious with bullet wounds after an individual entered a private home and shot them.
Paramedics pronounced one of the victims dead on the spot and took the other woman, in critical condition, to Shamir Medical Center, the Magen David Adom emergency service said.
Shortly after, police announced the arrest of five residents of Lod in connection with the shooting.
The shooting is being investigated within the context of a “violent conflict between clans on the Arab street,” Ynet reported, quoting the police.
It was also reported that the husband of the woman who was killed in the shooting was himself shot to death four years ago.
The anti-violence watchdog group the Abraham Initiatives said that since the beginning of the year, 133 Arab Israelis and two Palestinian residents have been killed in violent circumstances. Of those, 117 were shot to death.
During the same period last year, there were 123 deaths, it noted.
Many Arab community leaders blame law enforcement for the spiraling crime rate, accusing police of neglect as the majority of murder cases go unsolved.
The crime wave has worsened considerably over the past two years, since the installation of the far-right Itamar Ben Gvir as national security minister.