Five killed in 24 hours as gun violence surges in Israel’s Arab communities
A father of one of the victims accused authorities of failing to protect his son despite clear warnings. Speaking to Israel’s public radio, he said police had ignored repeated threats
A surge of deadly shootings has once again shaken Israel’s Arab communities, leaving five men dead in less than a day and intensifying anger over what many describe as official inaction in the face of rising crime.
Four of the victims were killed overnight between Wednesday and Thursday in separate incidents across the country.
Among them was 22-year-old Mokhtar Ata Abu Madiam, whose bullet-riddled body was found inside a car in Rahat, a Bedouin city in the Negev. Abu Madiam was the son of the town’s former mayor and had survived an earlier attempt on his life just four months ago.
His father, Ata Abu Madiam, accused authorities of failing to protect his son despite clear warnings. Speaking to Israel’s public radio, he said police had ignored repeated threats. “He had no dispute with anyone. We know who carried out the shooting,” he said. “Those responsible must be arrested and left to rot in prison.” He added that he never imagined he would join the ranks of bereaved parents.
“I spoke out against violence in Tel Aviv’s streets. Today, the violence has taken my son.”
The remaining killings were spread across multiple towns. A 42-year-old man was shot dead in Yarka in the western Galilee. In Lod, a man in his fifties was killed by gunfire. Another victim, a man in his twenties, was murdered in Shaqib al-Salam (Segev Shalom). A fifth man, around 30 years old, died of wounds sustained in a shooting a day earlier in Fureidis, near Haifa.
Emergency responders from Magen David Adom said they found the victim in Yarka unconscious, without a pulse or breathing, and suffering from severe gunshot wounds. Attempts to resuscitate him failed, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The latest killings follow the shooting death of 40-year-old Mohammad Qassem in Fureidis the previous day. With these deaths, the toll of homicide victims in Israel’s Arab community has climbed to 43 since the start of the year, compared with roughly 31 over the same period last year. Seventeen people have been killed since the beginning of February alone.