By Pesach Benson • May 6, 2026
Jerusalem, 6 May, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Two young men were shot dead and a third seriously wounded in a late-night shooting in the central Israeli Arab city of Qalanswa, police said Wednesday.
The victims were identified as Abdel Aziz Zabarka and Muhammad Samir Zabarka, both in their 20s. The three men, who were reportedly cousins, were sitting in a vehicle when unidentified gunmen opened fire shortly after 2 a.m. The attackers fled the scene.
No arrests have been made.
“A preliminary investigation indicates that the background to the incident is likely a blood feud,” police said in a statement.
Emergency medical teams found the victims unconscious inside the car, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. All three were evacuated to Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba, where doctors pronounced two of them dead. The third victim remained hospitalized in serious condition.
“We saw three young men in their 20s inside a vehicle, unconscious and suffering from serious penetrating injuries to their bodies,” Magen David Adom paramedic Nadim Assi said. “Two of them were without a pulse and not breathing. We provided medical treatment, including CPR, and evacuated them to the hospital in critical condition as we fought for their lives.”
The killings were the latest in a wave of violent crime affecting Israel’s Arab communities. According to advocacy groups and police data, 101 Arab citizens of Israel have been Killed in violent incidents since the beginning of the year.
Earlier this week, Hadi Suad, 30, was shot dead in Shfaram in what police also suspect was linked to an ongoing family feud. His brother was killed three months ago, while his father was murdered about a year earlier.
Last Friday, two men in their 20s were also shot dead near a highway interchange outside the central city of Ramla in another suspected blood feud-related attack.
The surging violence is widely attributed to organized crime groups engaged in turf wars and efforts to eliminate rivals. Arab criminal organizations have been involved in extortion, money laundering, and the trafficking of weapons, drugs, and women.
Critics argue the crime wave has worsened since Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right politician, became National Security Minister in 2022.