Woman shot dead overnight in her home in Lod as killings of Arab citizens persist |
A woman was shot and killed in Lod overnight Wednesday to Thursday in what police were investigating as a possible femicide, as a violent crime wave continues to wrack Arab society.
The victim, a woman in her 40s named Anwaar al-Baz, was killed a day after a bus driver from East Jerusalem was gunned down in his car while driving home from Holon. She is the 72nd member of the Arab community killed in crime-related circumstances this year, a rate of nearly one per day.
Paramedics found her in her home at around 1 a.m. Thursday morning, and pronounced her dead at the scene.
The Kan public broadcaster reported that officers suspected she was shot in a so-called honor killing, but police have not elaborated on the circumstances. Honor killings are murders of women, often by close relatives, because of actions perceived as violating conservative norms on love and marriage. There were no reports of arrests.
Of the Arab citizens killed in crime-related circumstances so far this year, four are women. However, not all of them were killed in femicides — a term that denotes the murder of women due to their gender.
The previous night, a bus driver from East Jerusalem was gunned down in Holon, south of Tel Aviv, just as Iran launched a volley of missiles toward central Israel.
According to Hebrew outlets, 36-year-old Murad Shweiki finished his shift at the city’s bus terminal and began driving home, only to be shot at an intersection as air raid sirens went off in the city.
Police reportedly believe the man was deliberately targeted in an ambush. He had no criminal record, according to Kan. No arrests were reported.
Earlier this month, an East Jerusalemite Palestinian from the Kafr Aqab neighborhood, beyond the West Bank security barrier, was shot dead in Nazareth.
Though the outset of the war with Iran saw a brief dip in the number of killings in the Arab community, the homicide rate has since shot back up, with 13 people killed over the past two weeks.
Many in Israel accuse National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir of failing to address crime in Arab society and allowing it to fester, claiming the far-right politician’s oversight of police has led to worsening neglect of Arab towns by law enforcement. Last year saw 252 deaths of Arab citizens in crime-related circumstances.
AP contributed to this report.
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violent crime in Israel