Three Arab men shot dead within 24 hours in northern Israel

Three Arab men were killed in separate shootings in northern Israel within 24 hours on Thursday and Friday, including a prisoner on his way to a rehabilitative work program. The victims were identified as Yousef Hamad, 22, in Tamra; Ahmad Jamal, 25, in Baqa al-Gharbiya; and Eyal al-Heib, 37, an inmate at Hermon Prison. Police described the incidents as criminal, not nationalist. The Abraham Initiatives reported 197 Arab homicide victims this year, down from 215 at the same time last year.

Three Arab men were killed in separate shootings in northern Israel within 24 hours on Thursday and Friday, including a prisoner who was on his way to a rehabilitative work program. The first shooting occurred Thursday evening in Tamra, killing 22-year-old Yousef Hamad and wounding another man moderately. The second shooting, also Thursday evening in Baqa al-Gharbiya, killed 25-year-old Ahmad Jamal from Qalanswe and wounded four men, three seriously. On Friday morning, 37-year-old Eyal al-Heib, an inmate at Hermon Prison serving an 18-year sentence for manslaughter, was shot dead at a bus stop near the Nahal Tsalmon Interchange on Route 65. The Israel Prison Service said he was on his way to a job at a rehabilitative factory. Police are investigating the incidents as criminal, not terror-related. Separately, a woman in her 20s was found dead with signs of injury in a Bedouin hamlet in the south, and her brother died in a car collision; it is unclear if the deaths are related. The Abraham Initiatives reported 197 Arab homicide victims since the start of the year, down from 215 at the same time last year. The watchdog has accused National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir of neglecting the issue, while Ben Gvir's party cites increased police action.