Young Arab man shot dead in apparent brawl on northern road; another killed in Acre
Police detain 32-year-old resident of Gan Ner over killing of 19-year-old Diar Umari; 14 people killed in homicides this week
A young Arab man was shot dead on a road near the northern town of Gan Ner on Saturday afternoon during a brawl, amid a dramatic spike in violent crime that has seen 14 killed in homicides this past week.
Police and medics said the 19-year-old resident of the nearby Arab village of Sandala was critically hurt in the shooting and taken to HaEmek Medical Center in Afula, where he was declared dead.
He was later named as Diar Umari.
A video circulating on social media showed two men scuffling on a road, before one pulled out a handgun and opened fire.
Officers dispatched to the scene detained a 32-year-old suspect, a resident of Gan Ner, police said. The handgun in his possession was seized.
Police said the background of the shooting was not immediately clear.
צעיר בן 19 נורה למוות בצפון אחרי קטטה בין נהגים | תיעוד@Eliashkenazi12 pic.twitter.com/sRa6yUnSlL
— וואלה (@WallaNews) May 6, 2023
Following the shooting, clashes erupted at the scene between Jewish and Arab citizens of the area. Police said officers dispersed the gathering after a short while. No arrests were made.
The Gaza Strip-based Hamas terror group in a statement said it mourned the killing of Umari “by a Zionist settler,” and issued a veiled threat.
“Our heroic people will not let the crimes of the occupation and its settlers pass without a response,” the statement said.
הגבר שנרצח היום בכניסה לגן נר בגלל ויכוח בכביש: דיאר עומרי בן 19 מהכפר סנדלה. עצוב. כמה חבל הריבים האלו לא שווים. pic.twitter.com/fNHU8vYfum
— Asslan Khalil (@KhalilAsslan) May 6, 2023
In another incident on Saturday, an Arab man in his 30s, identified by media reports as Hamada Salem, was shot dead in the northern city of Acre.
Police said they launched an investigation into the latest killing.
Fourteen people have been killed in homicides this week, mostly in the Arab community.
According to The Abraham Initiatives, a group that campaigns against violence, there have been 72 Arabs killed in violent circumstances since the beginning of the year. The watchdog said 64 of them were killed by gunfire.
During the same period last year, there were 27 comparable deaths in total.
Also on Saturday, a 24-year-old man was seriously wounded in a violent incident near Hadera in northern Israel, before being taken to the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center; a 52-year-old man was moderately wounded in a separate violent incident in Hadera; and a 25-year-old man was shot and seriously wounded in the Arab town of Jisr az-Zarqa.
Police launched investigations into the incidents.
Mansour Abbas, head of the Islamist Ra’am party on Saturday night criticized National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir for not tackling crime in the Arab community.
“We should have sat down with [the government] and examined what they intend to do in the area of crime and violence in Arab society. We now have a 250% increase in murder cases,” Abbas said in a Channel 13 news interview,
“If the national security minister is not functioning, then Likud should please put a deputy minister in that ministry, a special czar in charge of crime and violence, because we are paying with the lives of civilians,” Abbas said.
On Thursday, the head of the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel, an umbrella group of leaders of the Arab community, slammed state authorities and Ben Gvir for the high rate of murders.
Ben Gvir, the far-right lawmaker in charge of police who campaigned on promises to beef up public safety, has largely stayed quiet on the soaring crimewave.
The sharp jump in killings, the highest number in decades, was seen in both the Jewish and Arab communities, although the numbers are far steeper in the latter.
Many blame the police, which they say has failed to crack down on powerful criminal organizations and largely ignores the violence, which includes family feuds, mafia turf wars and violence against women.
The Times of Israel Community.