A 20-year-old was killed and a child was injured in a shooting that occurred on Tuesday afternoon on Rubenstein Street in Tel Aviv-Jaffa. The shooting was determined to be of a criminal background, according to Israel Police.
A relative of the victim told KAN news that the shooters came to the scene, shot the two and escaped. “Why? Are we mafia?” said the relative, asking “Where are the police?” The relative lamented that the police only come to the area when there’s an issue with drugs. “[They] only search for drugs. Search for the killers!”
The relative explained that the child who was shot was a neighbor of the older youth who was killed, not a relative, and was shot because he was standing next to the youth. “What kind of world is this? Are we the [criminal] underworld?”
The shooting comes amid unrest in Jaffa as almost nightly protests in the past week have often turned violent. Multiple arson incidents occurred over the weekend and a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a municipal building in the area.
The riots in Jaffa began amid a plan by the city to build the Center for the Homeless on a site that was an old Muslim cemetery.
The cemetery in question dates back to the 18th century and was discovered in April 2018 when the city of Tel Aviv began digging to construct the foundation of the planned center. Previously, a building dating to the Ottoman period stood on the same grounds, Ynet reported.
While the Muslim community claimed the cemetery is named El Asaf and is fighting to preserve it, a court decision from January ruled that in this case the project could continue.
The reasoning behind the approval was that the Muslim community, with the approval of then-Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Amin al-Husseini, removed the bodies and turned the grounds into a soccer field 80 years ago.
Additionally, the city intends to construct columns to ensure that human remains will maintain their dignity. The developer also stated that any such remains are worked around by hand to ensure they remain intact.
Alon Hochman/Maariv contributed to this report.