Violence in Israeli Arab community claims two more lives in 24 hours

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A man, 26, was killed and another, 24, critically injured after a shooting incident in Umm al-Fahm, police said Wednesday, in the second murder in the city within 24 hours.

The man killed was identified as Amer Makled Jabarin, who was shot while in a vehicle. The two individuals were evacuated to Haemek Hospital in Afula. There, Makled, a resident of Umm al-Fahm, was declared dead. The 24-year-old is in critical condition.

Amer Makled Jabarin, 26.

Both individuals were known to the police, who have opened a preliminary investigation into the incident. Police suspect the shooting is related to a conflict between criminals.

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Raed Mahmid, a member of Umm al-Fahm’s city council, said that the situation, which threatens the personal safety of the city’s residents, is “unacceptable.”

“No one would accept a situation where shootings and murders are repeated every day. War must be declared against these criminals, and all means must be used–including using the Shin Bet security service to calm the intolerable situation.”

Since the beginning of the year, 102 Arabs have been murdered in circumstances related to violence and crime in Israel, according to Haaretz’s count.

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The murder comes a day after a 25-year-old man was shot and killed in the same city.

The man, Khalil Abu Ja’u Agbariah, sustained critical gunshot wounds and was evacuated to Haemek Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

On Monday, a 44-year-old male from the Arab town of Bi’ina, Salim Hasarma, was murdered by gun fire. Police assume the killing was related to a family dispute.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned of the consequences of growing violence in the Israeli Arab community, as the cabinet voted to expand police search powers to fight the violence.

“We are losing the state,” he said at a cabinet meeting about the violence in the Arab community.