Recent killings occur while Palestinian communities and villages within Israel experience record-breaking crime rates.
Following a mass shooting on Thursday that left five people dead, Palestinian residents of Israel have declared nationwide strikes and protests against the “inaction” of the Israeli police.
The shooting is one of the bloodiest crime-related incidents to have occurred in the nation in recent years and coincides with a record-high murder rate in Palestinian towns and villages inside of Israel.
In comparison to the same period in 2022, more than 90 individuals have been slain in similar shootings this year.
On Friday and Saturday, strikes and protests were organized in all Palestinian communities by the High Follow-Up Committee, an umbrella civil society organization that represents Palestinian citizens of Israel.
The committee issued a statement on Thursday saying, “We hold Israeli authorities fully accountable for the alarming rise in crime in our society, as it is the official body that bears the responsibility and has the power to eradicate this terrible phenomenon.”
In the north of the nation, near Nazareth, there were two gunshots on Thursday, and two more were reported in Kafr Qasim and Umm al-Fahm.
The deadliest shooting, which killed five people, including a 15-year-old, occurred in the village of Yafia Nazareth. It is thought to be a part of a conflict between criminal families.
In Kafr Kana village, two people were wounded in a shooting, including a three-year-old child who was seriously hurt, and another person was killed in Kafr Qasim.
Israeli police reported on Friday that they had detained 14 people they believed to be connected to the shooting of Yafia Nazareth.
Meanwhile, dozens of people demonstrated against the police on the streets of Nazareth on Friday morning, and more are expected to take part in similar protests elsewhere.
According to Palestinians, police have not protected them from organized crime gangs that have long terrorized their neighborhood.
Some claim that Israeli authorities are working with criminals to weaken the community’s social fabric and make people feel unsafe.
The Hadash party representative in the Israeli parliament, Aymen Odeh, wrote on Twitter, “We have been warning and calling for years to take weapons off the streets and tackle the criminal organizations.”
“We won’t stand for this negligence. Until it stops, the entire nation will be shut down. “.
The Israeli government was charged by the High Follow-Up Committee with having a crime-fighting strategy of “inaction” in Palestinian towns.
Israeli police officials deny accusations that they are involved. The murders on Thursday “shocked” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also declared that his government was “determined to stop this cycle of killing.”
Additionally, he stated that he intended to enlist the aid of Israel’s internal security organization, Shin Bet, in the fight against the crime wave.
The High Follow-Up Committee, on the other hand, was opposed to potential Shin Bet assistance because they believed it could be used as an excuse to subject Israeli citizens who are Palestinian to more state snooping.
Disregard and separation
Palestinian Israelis are the descendants of native Israelis who were violently expelled by Zionist militias during Israel’s founding in 1948. For quite a long time, they have experienced under oppressive regulations and practices forced by the Israeli state.
An NGO called Abraham Initiatives asserts that “under-policing and tense relations with the Israeli police” are to blame for community disorder and violence. Even though Palestinians make up only 20% of Israel’s population, the organization claims that Palestinians are involved in 50% of the country’s overall violent crime.
Gangs involved in prostitution, the arms and drug trades, and other crimes profit from the widespread presence of illegal weapons in Palestinian towns. Even though Israeli officials say they want to stop crime, they haven’t solved many murders quickly.
In cases connected to the 96 Palestinian homicides that were recorded this year, only nine indictments have been filed. In the mean time, in excess of 83% of crimes in the Jewish people group have been settled.
