Young man shot dead in Arab town, community’s 88th victim this year

A young man was shot dead in the Arab town of Jisr az-Zarqa Monday night, police said, the latest case of communal violence that has plagued Israeli Arabs in recent years.

Jalal Amash was shot by an assailant while at a grocery store in the coastal town located north of Netanya. He was rushed to Hadera’s Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in serious condition and later died of his injuries.

Reports had Amash’s age at between 17 and 20. The cause of his murder was not immediately clear. Police were investigating.

According to the Abraham Initiatives, which tracks violence in the Arab community, 88 Arabs have been killed in crime-related incidents in Israel since the beginning of the year.

Arab communities have seen a surge in violence in recent years amid a rise in organized crime and the proliferation of illegal weapons.

On Sunday a woman was shot dead in the southern Bedouin city of Lakiya. Resident Zinab Alsaana, 45, was rushed to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba in critical condition after being shot twice in her legs.

She was pronounced dead at the hospital.

According to initial reports carried by Hebrew-language media, Alsaana was shot while in her car alongside her son, who is thought to have been the target of an assassination attempt due to an ongoing feud. The son’s condition was not immediately known.