Palestinian citizen of Israel shot dead in 'family feud' as community gun violence spikes

A Palestinian man was shot dead on Tuesday night in the town of Baqa Al-Gharbiya, according to Israeli media reports, in the latest in a spate of murders to hit Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Nader Maqaldeh, 48, was shot as he left a cafe, eyewitnesses told Israeli news site Ynet. Baqa Al-Gharbiya is a Palestinian town that lies within Israel's 1948 boundaries.

The Palestinian man's killing comes amid a feud between two families in Baqa Al-Gharbiya that has left at least one other person dead, Israeli news site Maariv reported.

Maqaldeh was the eighth Palestinian citizen of Israel to be shot dead in just two weeks - and the third killed in a matter of hours, The Times of Israel reported.

One Palestinian citizen of Israel was shot and killed in the town of Shoham on Tuesday, the news outlet said. Another was gunned down in his car in Al-Bina on Monday night.

Forty Palestinian citizens of Israel have been murdered since the beginning of 2022, it added.

Police said they were investigating Tuesday night's killing, but Palestinian citizens of Israel have long accused the Israeli authorities of turning a blind eye to the continuing spiral of deadly violence in their community.

A parliamentary report in August revealed that male Palestinian citizens of Israel aged 25 or over are 36 times more likely to fall victim to gun violence than their Jewish Israeli counterparts.

Those living in predominantly Palestinian neighbourhoods were 30 times more likely to be a victim of gun crime than those living in Jewish areas, according to the study.

Palestinian citizens of Israel face systematic discrimination and complain of being treated as second-class citizens in comparison to their Jewish counterparts. 

Large segments of the Israeli public see Palestinian citizens as a demographic threat to Israel's Jewish identity, with discrimination entrenched across housing, public services, education, and employment.