Following one of the deadliest days the Arab community has experienced in recent months, Israel Police Commissioner Daniel Levy will convene a special meeting on Monday evening with the police’s senior command staff to assess the continued fight against criminal organizations and the wave of violence in Arab society.
The meeting comes after five people were murdered in four separate incidents in Taiba, Kalansuwa, Jaffa, and Holon within less than 12 hours. The incidents are suspected of being connected to disputes between criminal organizations and families.
The series of murders began shortly after midnight in Taiba.
Bakr Nuseirat, 19, was shot dead at the entrance to his home shortly after returning from a wedding with members of his family. Another young man was seriously wounded. Police believe the shooting stemmed from a dispute within the extended family. Nuseirat was murdered at the same location where his cousin, Muatasem Nuseirat, was shot dead last year, despite a sulha, or reconciliation agreement, reached between the sides several months ago.
The investigation, however, became complicated within minutes. Footage obtained by Walla showed Nuseirat’s relatives washing the murder scene shortly after the shooting.
Body camera footage appears to show individual washing away, destroying evidence, police suspect
Police body camera footage appears to show an officer asking, “What is all this water here?” After being told they were “washing away the blood,” he responded, “But this is a crime scene,” and demanded they stop cleaning the area immediately.
Police suspect that the actions carried out at the scene may have destroyed evidence and harmed the murder investigation.
Hours later, Adnan Ghanem and Ghaleb Abu Ras were shot dead in Kalansuwa.
Security camera footage showed a vehicle blocking the pair’s path before assassins riding electric bicycles arrived and opened fire. When the two attempted to escape, the gunmen continued shooting until they had confirmed their deaths. Police are investigating whether the killings were connected to a blood feud between families.
Explosives detonated on Arab cars
Shortly afterward, a powerful explosion occurred on Saharon Street in Jaffa. An explosive device attached to Iyad Gharb’s vehicle detonated while his six-year-old son was sitting beside him. Gharb was killed at the scene, his son was lightly wounded, and another person was moderately wounded. The force of the explosion caused extensive damage to nearby vehicles and buildings. A truck driver who was at the scene rescued the child from the burning vehicle.
Another explosion occurred later that morning, this time in Holon. Mustafa Abu Lassan, a Jaffa resident, was killed after an explosive device attached to his vehicle detonated near a gas station. Witnesses described a powerful blast that shook the area, with the vehicle bursting into flames within seconds.
The meeting scheduled for Monday evening follows an especially bloody day, but for the victims’ families, it is another in a series of meetings and statements made in the past. With 143 people already murdered in the Arab community since the beginning of the year, and many of the killings still unsolved, it appears that a structured plan to reduce the violence is needed more than ever, rather than responses issued after each new wave of murders.