Five Arab Israelis shot dead as crime wave grips community

Five Arab Israelis were shot dead across the country in less than 24 hours, police said on Thursday, as a surge in violent crime continues to grip the Arab community.

The deaths raise the number of Arab Israelis killed this year to 44.

Crime and armed violence have escalated sharply among Israel's Arab minority, where criminal gangs extort residents and business owners for protection and frequently kill those who fail to pay.

Israeli media reported that 20?year?old Farid Abu Mubarak from the Bedouin town of Shaqib al?Salam in the Negev was gunned down Thursday morning.

Hours earlier, 22?year?old Mukhtar Abu Madigham, the son of a former mayor of Rahat, was shot dead in the southern city.

In northern Israel, gunmen killed Najib Abu Rish in the Druze village of Yarka.

In Lod, Israeli emergency service Magen David Adom said a man in his fifties died after being critically wounded by gunfire. He was later identified as 60?year?old Hussein Abu Rqeiq.

Late Wednesday, authorities confirmed the killing of 47?year?old Muhammad Qassem from the village of Al?Fureidis near Haifa.

Police said they opened investigations into the killings and were carrying out "extensive searches" to track down the perpetrators.

Israel Police Commissioner Dani Levy described the situation as a "national emergency" and urged a "decisive war on crime".

"The continued killing of innocent people in criminals' disputes cannot continue," he said in a statement, calling on community leaders to condemn violence and urging courts to impose harsher sentences.

Many Arabs, however, accuse police of failing to bring criminals to justice.

The past two months have seen some of the largest anti?crime protests in years, including mass demonstrations launched from the city of Sakhnin, nationwide rallies and a car convoy from northern Israel to government offices in Jerusalem.

Israel recorded an unprecedented 252 killings among Arab citizens in 2025.

Arab Israelis, descendants of Palestinians who stayed on their land after Israel's creation in 1948, comprise around 21 percent of Israel's population of 10.15 million.