Jerusalem, 10 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — israeli police launched an investigation on Wednesday after a man was shot and killed overnight in the northern town of Tur’an, marking another grim addition to a year of surging violence in Israel’s Arab community.
Emad Bakarneh, 32, was fatally wounded inside a corner store, police said. A second man, 36, was also shot and taken to hospital in moderate condition. Officers arrived within minutes, combing the area for suspects, though no arrests have been reported.
Police said both men were initially hospitalized in serious and moderate condition, and that Bakarneh was later pronounced dead. The motive remains unknown but investigators are treating the shooting as a criminal incident.
According to the Abraham Initiatives, a non-profit organization that promotes Arab integration into Israeli society, 241 Israeli-Arabs have been murdered in 2025.
His killing came a day after 20-year-old Mohammad Abdelrahman Agbaria was shot dead in the Arab town of Khirbet al-Bayada.
The spike continues a pattern of violence in the Arab sector, which saw 230 murders in 2024. In 2023, a record number of 244 Israeli Arabs were murdered, more than double the 120 homicides in 2022.
The surge in violence is attributed to organized crime groups fighting turf battles and attempting to eliminate rivals. Arab criminal organizations have been involved in extortion, money laundering, and trafficking in 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.
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