Palestinian mayor's home targeted in shooting as deadly Israel crimewave continues

The home of a Palestinian mayor in Israel was targeted by gunmen early Wednesday morning, amid a deadly crimewave that has seen the killing of Palestinian council officials and scores of civilians inside Israel's 1948 boundaries.

Sohil Diab, mayor of the town of Tamra in northern Israel, was shot at by "unidentified persons", according to Haaretz, but with no reports of casualties.

A number of 1948 Palestinian local officials have been targeted in recent months including on Monday when a mayoral candidate in Nazareth was injured in a shooting along with his brother and another man.

Abed al-Rahman Kashua, the 60-year-old director-general of the municipality of Tira, was also shot dead last week.

Local mayoral candidate Shazi Saab and his two nephews were killed in a separate shooting.

The targeting of these officials has led Shin Bet, Israel's domestic spy agency to investigate the targeting of the local politicians after a long delay, following outcry from the Palestinian community and some members of the Knesset.

It is part of a wave of murders that have hit the Palestinian community in Israel with a 40-year-old in the city of Lydda, also known as Lod, becoming the 163rd victim this year on Wednesday.

This compares to 111 dead in the whole of 2022 and a figure way above the average among the Jewish community.

Palestinian citizens of Israel have blamed a lack of policing and resources for the crimewave.

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has been slammed for dismantling a unit dedicated to fighting crime among Palestinian citizens of Israel.