Five Palestinian citizens of Israel killed in shootings over 24 hours

Five Palestinian citizens of Israel have been killed in four separate shootings in the last 24-hours as a crime wave shows no signs of abating in Palestinian communities in Israel.

Omar Khaldi, 61, and his son Muhammad Khaldi, 26, were shot on Wednesday morning in the town of Shafa'Amr in what Israeli police suspect to be a revenge attack after the shooting of 32-year-old Amir Sua’ed that occurred in Shafa'Amr on Tuesday evening.

Sua’ed was pronounced dead after being taken to Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa by paramedics. Police believe the victim was a relative of a known crime figure, with the shooting believed to be part of a feud between rival organisations.

30-year-old Ashraf Abu Nasser was also killed last night, after he was shot outside a mosque in the town Kafr Kana. Police believe the murder is associated with a criminal feud.

A 25-year-old man was also shot and killed in the southern city of Rahat after being taken to Soroka Medical Centre in Beersheba.

Israel’s Palestinian community, which forms around 20 percent of the Israeli population, has been suffering from a deadly crime wave that has now led to the death of 108 people since the beginning of the year.

Palestinians have launched demonstrations across the country to protest the ongoing crime wave, and have complained about discrimination within Israel, as well as police inaction over the murder cases.

Earlier in June Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu announced the forming of a steering committee to find a solution to the problem, stating that he would reinforce the police and attain help from domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet, integrating the agency into any anti-crime efforts.

However, the head of Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, later told the prime minister that any integration would be detrimental to the agency in its ‘fight against terrorism’.

Some Palestinians have expressed fear that the inclusion of the agency could be a pretext for persecution of Palestinian citizens of Israel, worrying that the government could target them for political reasons.