‘State of emergency’: Six Palestinian citizens of Israel killed in one day

[Edge Guerrero]

Palestinians and advocacy groups say Israeli authorities have long turned a blind eye to crime in their communities.

Six Palestinian citizens of Israel have been killed in two separate shootings, police said, the latest fatalities in a crime wave hitting the country’s Palestinian minority.

Five members of the same family were killed on Wednesday in a shooting in northern Israel. The three men and two women were shot dead in broad daylight in the town of Basmat Tabun, northwest of Nazareth, police said in a statement.

But Ben-Gvir, known as an anti-Palestinian provocateur, has seemingly done little to bring safety to Palestinian towns and villages.

The violence has instead intensified, with more than double the number of such homicides taking place for similar periods in recent years.

Less than 10 percent of similar cases have been solved this year, the Abraham Initiatives group added, describing the surge in violence as a symptom of both police indifference and Palestinian distrust of the police.

“The prime minister must sack the minister of public security and immediately put in place a plan to address criminality in the Arab society. It’s a state of emergency,” the Abraham Initiatives said in a statement.

“Police do not have the willingness or the capacity,” said Thabet Abu Rass, the group’s director. “People are afraid to go outside. It’s a very dangerous situation right now.”

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/27/state-of-emergency-six-palestinian-citizens-of-israel-killed-in-one-day