A shooting at a car wash in the Arab town of Yafa an-Naseriyye in Israel left five dead on Thursday, in what’s considered to be one of the country’s deadliest incidents in recent years.
The attack may be related to criminal gangs and linked to a feud between two families in the region, BBC News reported, citing Israeli media.
There’s been an alarming rise in murder cases among Israeli Arabs this year, with many citizens complaining that the government is largely ignoring the problem.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the attack, saying that his office is determined to put an end to the string of violence.
“I am determined to bring in the Shin Bet (security service) as an aid to the Israel Police against these criminals, against the criminal organizations, against these murders,” Netanyahu was quoted as saying by BBC.
The same day, in the town of Kafr Kanna, another crime-related shooting left a 3-year-old girl and her relative seriously wounded, said Israeli police.
The Arab minority in Israel is only one fifth of the total population, but in recent years it has experienced the majority of the murder incidents in the country.
There have been 97 people killed so far this year in Israel’s Arab sector, BBC cited the Abraham Initiatives as finding.
That’s three times the number recorded over the same period last year, reports the organization.
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