Ten people were murdered over the past three days in the Arab sector, raising the number of those killed in the community to 76 this year, according to the Abraham Initiatives nonprofit organization.
In the latest incident, Elias Motran, 31, was murdered on Sunday in Nazareth. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition and was pronounced dead upon arrival.
Motran was on his way to work when he stopped at a bakery to buy pastries and a drink while the shooters, who were apparently ambushing another family member, decided to shoot this father of two instead – at close range.
A large police force arrived on the scene and opened an investigation into the circumstances of the murder, which was marked as criminal. Investigators collected evidence from the scene, including security cameras, and police began extensive searches in an attempt to track down the suspects in the act.
Following the incident, Police Commissioner Insp.-Gen. Daniel Levy visited Nazareth and met with police officers who were securing the city during the Christian holiday of Palm Sunday (the Sunday before Easter).
“I have instructed that the North District continue to be reinforced by a large presence of police forces and special units in order to ensure the general public’s safety,” Levy said.
“Special units will operate there in order to combat serious crimes. We will not allow criminals to disrupt the daily lives of normative citizens – and we will act with all our might to stop criminals, bringing them to justice.”
A wave of violence
Several hours before Motran’s murder, Mohammed Abd Tarabieh, a 28-year-old resident of Sakhnin, was shot dead in the city while sitting in a car also outside a bakery.
Tarabieh was critically wounded and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The police believe that the killing was part of a conflict between criminal gangs. Large police forces arrived at the scene and began an investigation, including an attempt to track down the suspects.
Also on Saturday, Anan Younis Nassar, 49, from Arrabe, was killed by an explosion of a bomb that was planted in his car. Police are investigating the incident.
In the midst of this wave of murders, a triple murder took place in Ramle when two shooters riding electric bicycles and wearing helmets arrived at the entrance to a hookah business.
They opened fire with automatic weapons, spraying bullets in all directions, although there were passersby present. Their aim was to kill Bilal Abu Ghanem, a member of a well-known crime family who was present in the store.
Abu Ghanem was killed along with two employees in the shop – Saleh Afifi and Baha Amira – who were both residents of Ramle.
A police investigation found that Ghanem was not involved in the criminal aspects of the family and that he was murdered only because of his family ties.
The police believe that the murders occurred in the context of a bloody clan conflict. After the shootings, they arrested a Lod resident in his 20s on suspicion of smuggling. This came after carrying out various investigative actions, including the use of advanced technological means.
Simultaneously, task forces from the Central District, together with the Gidonim Unit for intelligence gathering and special operations that operate as part of the Lahav 433 Unit, as well as the Border Police, acted against criminal strongholds in Ramle and Lod.
A day earlier, two brothers – Jalal and Matin al-Shamali – were killed as part of the clan war in Ramle. A number of suspects in connection with these latest murders were arrested.
Central District police forces under the command of Commander Maj.-Gen. Yair Hetzroni arrested three suspects.
The incident in question is suspected to have led to a revenge killing in the hookah business in which three Ramle residents lost their lives; only Ghanem, as mentioned, allegedly belonged to one of the families involved in this bloody conflict.
Another killing took place in Shfaram, where a 60-year-old man was shot to death in his vehicle near his home.
Police arrived at the scene and began an investigation, during which suspicions grew that this was a direct continuation of the war between two clans in the city – a conflict that has already claimed quite a few lives.
In addition to the deaths, two different violent events were recorded in Tira on Sunday, in which two people were wounded, one moderately and the other critically, after being shot while in their vehicle. The police have opened an investigation into this incident.