Murder wave claims 6 more Arab-Israeli victims within 24 hours, police chief says his ‘hands are tied’

The horrific murder wave gripping Israel’s Arab community claimed six more victims since Wednesday evening, as the country’s police chief rejected responsibility and claimed his hands are tied.

Five men were murdered in the span of 12 hours, from Wednesday night to Thursday morning, while another woman was killed on Thursday night.

Speaking at a situational assessment meeting with senior police staff, Commissioner Danny Levy declared, “This is a national state of emergency! The war against crime organizations requires root treatment involving all government ministries – education, welfare, economy, justice – and the integration of local leadership. Everyone must mobilize, including the IDF and various civil society organizations!”

“We do not have the ability to curb and prevent [crime] when our hands are tied, our ears are sealed, and our eyes are covered. We again call for full mobilization and active cooperation from all government ministries, shoulder to shoulder with us in the field, and for the restoration of technological tools to our hands,” Levy lamented.

In this year alone, 47 Israeli Arab citizens were murdered in just 43 days. This statistic follows the worst year on record regarding violent crime in the Arab sector, with 252 homicide deaths in 2025.

Arab community leaders have launched a large protest movement demanding the government and law enforcement agencies step up their efforts to stop the murder wave.

Almost all of the murders were the result of blood feuds and revenge killings between criminal gangs, most of which are clan-based and therefore often target even distant relatives who have no connection to criminal activity.

Wednesday night’s murder spree began with 48-year-old Mohammad Qassem, shot point-blank by a masked assailant in Fureidis, a small town south of Haifa. Police who arrived at the scene were accosted by protesting residents and reportedly beat some of them with batons.

Later that night, Mukhtar Abu Mdeighem (22), the son of the Bedouin town’s former mayor, was shot dead in his car in Rahat, near Beersheva in southern Israel. Three suspects were arrested the following morning.

Early on Thursday morning, Sheikh Najib Abu Rish, a father of four children, was shot dead in the Druze town of Yarka, in the Galilee.

Later that morning, Farid Abu Mubarak (20) was shot dead in the Bedouin town of Segev Shalom, near Beersheva, while 65-year-old Hussein Abu Raqiq was murdered in the mixed Jewish-Arab town of Lod, near Ben Gurion Airport.

Finally, a 55-year-old woman, Wafaa Awad, was killed after being struck by gunfire in her home in Tamra, in the Lower Galilee, on Thursday evening. Police later arrested two men, aged 23 and 36, on suspicion of involvement in the killing.

An additional four people were wounded in separate shootings in the span of just 15 minutes in the central town of Qalansaweh, when a horse was struck and killed by the gunfire. Another 24-year-old woman was shot and wounded in the town of Tayibe.

Police Commissioner Levy demanded that the “Attorney General, the State Attorney’s Office, and the Government of Israel: return the technological tools to us immediately.”

“The Israel Police is operating with all the tools currently at its disposal, carrying out intensive activity, seizing weapons, making arrests, thwarting murder attempts, and harming the economic infrastructure of crime organizations,” he said, but added that a “combined national effort” was needed to stem the tide.

He also appealed for stricter sentencing by the courts, faster indictments and the “immediate handling of requests for administrative restriction orders” from the State Attorney’s Office, and better legislation from the political echelon.

“The increase in murder incidents since the start of the year, particularly in Arab society – where a significant portion of those murdered are innocent victims caught in disputes between criminals, families, and crime organizations – is an intolerable situation that must stop! The overwhelming majority of Arab society is law-abiding and suffers from this crime. We call on local leadership and religious leaders to condemn the violence,” Levy stressed.