Four killed in shooting
The Magen David Adom ambulance service said paramedics declared the four dead at the scene after finding them in a field.
(TIMES OF ISRAEL) – Four people were gunned down on Tuesday, one of them a mayoral candidate, in the northern Israeli town of Abu Snan, as a deadly crime surge in Arab communities continued to shatter record homicide numbers set over the past few years.
The mass shooting came hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again called to involve the Shin Bet internal security agency in combating violent crime in Arab locales, following the killing of Tira’s municipal director a day earlier.
Netanyahu’s office later announced that a ministerial panel tasked with fighting crime in the Arab community would convene on Wednesday.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service said paramedics declared the four dead at the scene after finding them in a field.
One of the victims was named as Ghazi Sa’ab, who was running for mayor in the upcoming municipal elections. The others were identified as his relatives Zahir al-Din Sa’ab and Amir Sa’ab, along with Salman Halbi of Yarca.
The incident was one of the deadliest acts of apparent criminal violence this year, coming over two months after five people were killed in a mass shooting at a carwash in Yafa an-Naseriyye.
Tuesday’s shooting was also the second to target a local Arab politician in as many days. Police denied it was linked to the October mayoral elections, describing it as crime-related.
“Today, every citizen of the Arab community in Israel lives in terrible fear, heavy grief and deep anxiety. Each of those murdered is a complete world to their family and loved ones,” President Isaac Herzog said. “This is an emergency that requires decisive measures by the state to eradicate crime and violence and prevent the further loss of life.”
On Monday, Tira’s general-director Abed Rahman Kashua was killed in a shooting that Netanyahu said “crossed a red line”. Along with Kashua, a man in his 30s was shot dead in a separate incident on Monday in the northern town of Reineh.
“We will employ all means, including the Shin Bet and police, to defeat this criminality,” the Prime Minister said in a video statement. “We will eliminate organised crime in Israel’s Arab society.”
“All Israeli citizens must live in safety and not under the shadow of the threat of domestic terror.”
According to the Abraham Initiatives anti-violence advocacy group, 156 members of Israel’s Arab community have been killed since the start of the year, mostly in shootings. During the same time frame last year, 68 were killed.
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