Woman shot dead in southern Bedouin town
Victim was reportedly visiting her children when masked man shot her; attack comes day after Arab lawmakers implored acting national security minister to deal with violence
A woman was shot dead in the southern Bedouin town of Kuseife on Monday, reportedly as she was getting out of her car.
Her death added to the spiraling homicide rate in the Arab community.
Medics who were called to the scene tried to resuscitate the woman, in her 30s, before declaring her dead.
The woman’s husband was killed in an accident a number of years ago, the Kan public broadcaster reported. After his death, she moved away without her children, who stayed with her husband’s family.
According to eyewitnesses, she was visiting her children, one of whom has special needs, when a masked man shot her.
A Kuseife resident told the network she suspected it was someone acquainted with the woman, saying, “No one from the outside would come to kill her, only people who are close.”
According to the anti-violence watchdog Abraham Initiatives, there have been 31 homicides in the Arab community since the beginning of the year, compared to 17 during the same period last year.
The Kuseife shooting came a day after lawmakers from the Knesset’s Arab parties met with acting National Security Minister Haim Katz to discuss skyrocketing violence in Israel’s Arab communities, the Kan public broadcaster reported.
The meeting was the first of its kind to take place since the November 2022 elections, as Katz’s predecessor Itamar Ben Gvir declined to meet with the lawmakers on the issue. The ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit leader is expected to rejoin the government and take back the reins of the National Security Ministry following the end of the ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas in Gaza.
Ra’am chair MK Mansour Abbas proposed a series of measures that could be implemented immediately in order to combat violent crime in Arab society, the report said, telling Katz that they have “a one-month opportunity” to create change.
According to the report, the measures proposed by the lawmakers included establishing a surveillance system in high-crime areas that would be monitored on a national scale rather than by individual localities, and the regulated use of surveillance technology against known criminal organizations.
Arab mayors who participated in the meeting also requested the government declare tackling crime in the Arab community a “national goal,” and strengthen dialogue and cooperation between police and local authority heads.
Violent crime in the Arab community has soared in recent years, and data released by the Israel Police last month showed that homicide rates doubled in 2023, with a record 244 victims in the Arab community.
Last month, violent crime claimed 21 lives, more than double that of the corresponding month last year. There were six homicides in the space of 24 hours last week.
