A woman was shot dead Tuesday in the northern town of Reineh, near Nazareth, continuing a wave of deadly violence in Israel’s Arab community.

Police said the woman, aged around 35, was killed in an agricultural area within the Galilee town, adding that the incident was related to organized crime.

Officers started searching for suspects and opened an investigation into the exact circumstances, police said.

The victim, whose death was pronounced by medics at the scene, wasn’t immediately named.

The number of Arab homicide victims in 2026 now stands at 74 — significantly more than in the same period last year, which was the bloodiest on record in the Arab community with 252 total homicide victims, according to figures from the Abraham Initiatives anti-violence watchdog.

Five of this year’s victims have been women.

The Abraham Initiatives has accused National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who was appointed toward the end of 2022, of letting crime in the Arab community spiral out of control.

In 2023, Ben Gvir’s first full year in office, homicides in the Arab community soared to 244, over double the previous year.

Critics charge that Ben Gvir has done little to deal with the stranglehold organized crime has put on Arab towns, instead prioritizing fighting terrorism or lawlessness that spills into Jewish areas.

Community members say gangland activity has driven an influx of gun violence, worsening existing blood feuds between families.

The violence has cast a pall across the community, with innocent passersby regularly caught in the middle of deadly shootings. In many Arab towns, shop owners now close by sundown and parents say they are afraid to let their children leave the house.

Charlie Summers contributed to this report.

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