Jerusalem, 16 February, 2026 (TPS-IL) — In the latest wave of violence in northern Israel, Jamil Mahmoud Diab, 61, from Tamra in the Lower Galilee, was shot and killed on Monday afternoon, marking the third Israeli-Arab death in a single day and raising the 2026 death toll from the ongoing violence to 51.
Earlier Monday, two men, Ahmed Mahajna and his son Aboud, were shot dead in broad daylight in Umm al-Fahm, highlighting a surge of public killings in the region.
Diab was the father of one of the suspects in the murder of Wafaa Rafiq Awad, a 56-year-old Tamra resident who was shot to death earlier this month.
Police said they had opened an investigation into Diab’s killing. Authorities have not yet released the identity of the shooter, and the motive remains under investigation.
Separate incidents on Saturday saw a 20-year-old man killed in a shooting on Highway 40 in the Negev region and an 18-year-old man murdered in a Nazareth shooting.
On Thursday, five people were killed in less than 24 hours in Rahat, Segev Shalom, Birka, Lod, and Fordyce. “We are in a state of national emergency,” said Police Commissioner Danny Levy during a briefing with senior commanders that day.
“The silence of the government, the police commissioner, and senior police officers cannot hide the truth – there is a complete loss of governance on the streets of Israel,” said the Abraham Initiatives, a non-profit organization that promotes Arab integration into Israeli society. “The rampant crime is not a decree of fate, but a decision not to solve it.”
On Tuesday, Israeli-Arabs held nationwide protests demanding a stronger government response.
Monday’s killings come amid a continuing pattern of violence in the Arab sector, which saw a record 252 Israeli-Arabs murdered in 2025 — more than double the 120 homicides in 2022.
The surge 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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