Two young men were killed early Wednesday morning in the town of Kalansuwa, raising the total number of murder victims in the Arab sector this year to over 100.
According to Magen David Adom, at around 2:00 a.m., it received a report of three men who had been injured in Kalansuwa. When paramedics arrived at the scene, they found the three men in their 20s who had been shot. Two of the victims had been grievously wounded and received CPR, while the third was seriously wounded and unconscious.
"We saw three young men in their 20s, inside a vehicle, unconscious and suffering from serious penetrative injuries to their torsos, two of whom were without a pulse and not breathing," MDA Paramedics Nadim Aasi, Yosef Guabara, and Yehuda Shelchin said. "We gave them medical treatment that included compressions and CPR and evacuated them to the hospital in critical condition, and we are fighting for their lives."
Despite their efforts, two of the victims died in the hospital, while the third man remains alive and unconscious.
Herzog demands action on Arab murder rate
President Isaac Herzog decried the high murder rate within the Arab community, describing it as an "ugly stain" on Israeli society.
"Over 100 souls lost to intolerable violence, over 100 shattered families, and many communities gripped by fear and anxiety," he wrote in a post on X/Twitter.
He also demanded that the government act to reduce the violent crime rate, saying that it must be placed at the top of the national priority list.
"We must act with determination and resolve, using every tool at the state's disposal, including the covert surveillance law, which will provide the police with additional and essential tools to combat the phenomenon," he stated.
The Abraham Initiatives NGO announced that the two murders brought the total of violent deaths in the Arab community to 104, with this year being the quickest that number has been reached in over five years.
"The data proves the simple truth," the NGO said in an X/Twitter post earlier this week. "The increase in murder cases in Arab society is the result of a racist policy of neglect. Under the current government, the murder rate has nearly tripled in four years of tenure, and in contrast, under the change government, the rate decreased from year to year."