Arab man shot dead in Jaffa port, the 103rd crime wave victim this year

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Israel Police are investigating the killing of Arab man in his thirties at Jaffa port on Saturday afternoon, after he was found unconscious with bullet wounds in the sea.

According to witnesses, the shooters spotted the victim in the port parking lot. The man began to flee and jumped in the water in an attempt to escape but was hit by gunfire. The assailants escaped the scene in their vehicle.

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The victim, an Arab resident of Jaffa, is known to the police as a member of a local fishing family with a criminal background.

The man was pulled from the water by paramedics from a nearby COVID test center. He was then transferred to Wolfson hospital, where he was declared dead.

The killing represents the 103rd death in the Arab community in Israel this year from crime-related violence. Thirteen of the victims have been women, while 50 were under the age of 30. In 86 of the cases, the victim was killed by gunfire.

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

Demonstration against violence and police mishandling of crime in Arabsector

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

Also on Saturday, a demonstration took place in Misgav Regional Council in Northern Israel against to protest police incompetency in handling crime in the Arab sector.