Key Palestinian municipality official killed in Israel as crimewave continues

A key Palestinian council official was shot dead on Monday evening, as a deadly crimewave affecting Palestinian citizens of Israel continues.

Abed al-Rahman Kashu, director-general of the Tira municipality, was targeted outside the city hall along with two other men who were injured in the incident. His death was the 153rd killing among Israel's Palestinian community so far this year.

Israeli police have opened an investigation into the killing and said the attack was probably unrelated to the upcoming municipal elections in October. Kashu also had no criminal record, police said.

The murder rate among Palestinians is much higher than among Jewish Israelis, which police often put down to organised crime. 

Israeli Interior Minister Moshe Arbel said Kashu's case "requires the immediate intervention of the prime minister and head of Shin Bet," the country's internal spy agency.

The head of Shin Bet had previously shown reluctance to involve the agency in the crimewave affecting Palestinian citizens of Israel, despite numerous calls to do so. 

Arbel said the murder of Alaa Mara'ai, an aide to the mayor of  the town of Fureidis last July, meant the government "cannot continue as business as usual."

"This is about the murder of symbols of government," he added.

Israel's extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has made racist statements against Palestinians in the past, was also criticised for dismantling a unit dedicated to fighting crime among Palestinian citizens of Israel.

The death of Abed al-Rahman Kashu means that 153 Palestinian citizens of Israel have now been killed since the start of the year.

This toll already exceeds the 111 killed in 2022.

The murders are part of an ongoing crimewave that is devastating the Palestinian community within Israel, and comes as police said they arrested 85 people in raids aimed at stopping the spate of murders.

Palestinian citizens of Israel have condemned the killings and blamed the crime wave on discrimination, arguing that police have not done enough to stop the crisis.