Palestinian journalist shot by 'unidentified gunmen' in Umm al-Fahm

A Palestinian journalist from Umm al-Fahm town, located in the 1948-Israeli occupied territories, was killed by unidentified gunmen, Palestinian local eyewitnesses said. 

"Nidal Ighbariya, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, was shot after he performed the Maghrib prayer in a mosque and went to his car," the eyewitnesses added. 

In June, the 44-year-old journalist posted several pictures on his accounts on Facebook and Instagram platforms, documenting the attack on his house with a hail of bullets. 

At that time, the journalist said, "My family and I miraculously escaped death because of the unprecedented attack."

According to an Israeli medical source, Ighbariya was critically wounded in the upper part of his body.

Magen David Adom's medical staff provided resuscitation operations for him and then he was urgently transferred to Ha'Emek Hospital in Afula for treatment, but his death was confirmed shortly after despite attempts to save his life.

Since the beginning of this year, 70 Palestinians of Israeli citizens, including seven women, were killed by unidentified people. 

Speaking to The New Arab, the journalist's family held Israeli authorities responsible for the incident, mainly as their son filed a complaint about receiving death threats.

According to the family, the threats were due to debts owed by a relative of the deceased, and the police were aware of the threats, without arresting suspects or preventing the crime.

"Unfortunately, the police are unexpectedly inactive. They always accuse the victim's families of not cooperating in the investigation to evade responsibility, but we gave them all the evidence and all the threats that Nidal and the family were exposed to," Mohammed Ighbariya, Nidal's father, told The New Arab. 

"Despite the increase of crimes in Arab society, there is no any Israeli action to stop it. This crime will not be the last because we kept silent about all these calamities," he said

"Everyone in this society has become threatened. We all feel fear and anxiety. If someone like Nidal with his good morals was killed, we are all liable to be killed. We walk the streets and count the victims as numbers," Alaa Ighbariya, Nidal's cousin, said to The New Arab.

"We are shocked and cannot believe what happened in the horror of the tragedy. It is very painful what is happening. How will we tell his daughter what happened?" he added.

Ighbariya is a founder and editor-in-chief of the local "Baladna" website, which provides news regarding Palestinians in the 1948-occupied areas.

Colleagues of Ighbariya accused the Israeli police of failing to protect journalists, in particular, and the Palestinians of the occupied territories, in general, from the massive killings. 

They stressed that murders and assassinations have risen in recent months without arrests of any of the perpetrators.

In a press statement sent to The New Arab, Umm al-Fahm municipality condemned the incident, saying, "We stunned and shocked by the killing of Ighbariya."

The municipality called on the Israeli police to take the required steps to arrest and hold accountable the criminals.