Two men were murdered over the weekend as a wave of violence in Israel’s Arab sector continues.
In the first incident, one person was killed and another wounded in a shooting incident in Kafr Manda on Friday night.
Shortly after, a man in his 30s was shot dead in Nazareth, making it the 21st such murder to take place in the northern town since the start of the year.
According to the preliminary investigation, police said that his death is linked to the ongoing feud in the North between the Hariri and Bakiri crime families.
The wave of criminal violence in Israel's Arab sector
The deaths mark the 73rd and 74th murders in the Arab community since the start of this year. Last year, 116 Arab-Israelis were murdered.
Speaking about the violence earlier this month, President Isaac Herzog called the wave of murders “civil terrorism.” He also urged elected officials and public leaders to tackle the issue.
2023 is on track to be the deadliest year for Israeli-Arabs in recent history, with 74 people murdered in just over four months.
In all of 2022, a total of 116 Israeli-Arabs were murdered, according to data published by the Abraham Initiatives.