Jerusalem, 7 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Three men were shot dead while on their way to work in the northern Arab city of Shfaram early Wednesday, as Israel marked at least 11 murders in Arab society since the start of 2026 — a grim opening to the new year that has renewed concern over spiraling violent crime.
The triple killing occurred shortly after 7 a.m., when reports of gunfire reached the Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency hotline in the Carmel region. Paramedics arriving at the scene found the three victims, all in their 50s, lying in the street with gunshot wounds and no signs of life.
“We received a report of three men who were injured in a violent incident,” said MDA medic Bilal Khatib and paramedic Fadi Tantouri. “We arrived at the scene in large numbers and saw three men lying unconscious, without a pulse or breathing, with gunshot wounds to their bodies. We performed medical examinations and were forced to declare them dead on the spot.”
Police said the background to the shooting was criminal and launched a manhunt for suspects. Residents reported hearing gunshots shortly before emergency crews arrived. Authorities did not immediately release the identities of the victims.
Shfaram, a mixed Arab city in northern Israel, has been gripped for nearly three years by a violent feud between two extended families, the Su’ad and Khaldi clans. The conflict has spread beyond the city into neighboring communities and has claimed around 30 lives, according to local reports. In several cases, people with no direct connection to the feud were killed after being caught in the line of fire.
The Shfaram killings came just hours after another fatal shooting in southern Israel. Overnight, Mahmoud Jasser Abu Arar, a 20-year-old medical student, was shot dead in the Bedouin town of Arara in the negev desert. Abu Arar was a first-year medical student in Georgia and had returned to Israel only a day earlier for a vacation.
He was taken to Soroka Medical Center in Beer-Sheva, where doctors pronounced him dead. Police said the killing was suspected to be linked to a blood feud and an ongoing dispute between families in the Bedouin community. Ten people were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the incident.
The four killings pushed the number of murder victims in Arab society since the start of the year to 11, echoing the deadly trend of 2025, when 255 people were murdered — the highest annual total on record.
President Isaac Herzog addressed the issue this week, calling the surge in violence a national crisis. “The issue of crime, delinquency and the loss of personal security in Arab society in Israel is a national challenge in every sense,” he said. “This reality is not a decree of fate. It is a critical national mission to strengthen enforcement, eradicate criminal organizations, and restore to citizens — in Arab society and in Israeli society as a whole — the right to live in security.”
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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