Palestinian-Israeli mother and son injured in Haifa shootout

According to police reports, a 57-year-old mother and her 23-year-old son were lightly wounded after being shot at in the Hadar neighbourhood in Haifa.

Ambulance services came shortly after the scene, saying they were "moderately injured" and were taken to a hospital nearby for treatment.

The police opened an investigation into the incident. It is currently unclear if the violence was a Palestinian-on-Palestinian gun crime.

Ten percent of Haifa's population is made up of Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Systemic racism

Gun violence continues to plague Palestinian communities inside Israel.

The term Arab-Israelis is often used to describe Palestinian citizens of Israel, who had survived the Nakba – a mass exodus of native Palestinians in 1948 which led to the creation of Israel.

For many, it is seen as a derogatory term because it erases their Palestinian identity.

Palestinian citizens of Israel make up 20 percent of the Israeli population and 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 Jewry, with discrimination entrenched across housing, public services, education and employment.

Read more: A deadly gun violence epidemic has gripped Palestinian communities. Is Israeli police neglect to blame?

Israeli authorities are frequently criticised for their inaction in pursuing perpetrators of violent crimes within the Palestinian community, whose neighbourhoods are awash with illegal guns.   

An estimated 95 percent of shooting incidents in Israel occur in Palestinian communities, as do nearly 60 percent of murders.

Palestinians says the violence reflects decades of institutional discriminations and social exclusion, with deliberate government neglect allowing killings to continue.

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