Woman shot dead at home in Lod; numerous relatives detained as suspects
Ru’ya Shaban’s family reportedly didn’t alert police, who learned of shooting through intel source; homicide believed linked to feud with rival family
A woman was shot dead Friday in the central city of Lod, police said. She was identified as Ru’ya Shaban, 24, with Hebrew media reporting that 11 members of her family were arrested in connection with the case, which is said to be related to a feud with a rival family.
Shaban, a divorced mother of three, was shot in her home and pronounced dead at the hospital, police said, adding that officers detained “all tenants of the home who are suspected of complicity and tampering with the scene.”
Police have struggled to stem homicides in the Arab community, which have surged in recent years. Shaban’s murder came barely a day after 37-year-old Muhammed Qadura was shot and killed in the northern town of Tamra.
Citing a police official, Haaretz reported that Shaban’s family did not report her shooting to the police, who learned of it through an intelligence source, and found a crime scene that had apparently been washed clean.
She was also said to have been shot in the head, and taken to hospital in her family’s car rather than an ambulance.
Shaban’s family has long been embroiled in a dispute with the rival Azbargeh family, Haaretz said. The Kan public broadcaster reported that police are currently trying to determine whether Shaban’s murderer was a member of her family or linked to the Azbargehs.
♦️ הנרצחת בלוד היא רואייה שעבאן, בת 24 ואם לשלושה. גורם המעורה בפרטים מסר כי הרצח התגלה בזכות מידע מודיעיני שהתקבל, ולא בזכות דיווח של בן משפחה או מכר מהשכונה. 11 חשודים נעצרו בחשד למעורבות ברצח.
♦️ בשנה שעברה נרצחו שני אחיה עומר ועיסא שעבאן. אחיה עומר נרצח בפיצוץ רכב בעיר לוד,… pic.twitter.com/IxGt90V0mV— Asslan Khalil (@KhalilAsslan) October 25, 2024
Amid the feud, Shaban’s brother Omar was killed when his car exploded in Lod in February, and her brother Issa was shot dead in his car in Kafr Qara last November.
According to Haaretz, police have considered Ru’ya Shaban a threatened person since Hussam Azbargeh was mistakenly shot dead in Ramle in July 2023. The newspaper said the actual target of the assassination was an associate of Shaban’s.
Since the murder — which Haaretz said was the first of the Shaban-Azbargeh feud — Shaban had reported threats against her to the police, but declined repeated offers of shelter by welfare authorities.
According to the Abraham Initiatives, a coexistence watchdog, Shaban’s is the 195th Arab murder victim in Israel since the start of 2024. The pace is comparable to 2023, when the organization recorded 236 homicides — the deadliest year on record in terms of violent crime in the Arab Israeli community.
