Two Israeli men gunned down in ‘bloody feud’ between families in Israel’s South

Sharif Sheikh Al-Eid (L) and Nidal Sheikh Al-Eid, counsins who were killed on 9 August 2023

Adi Hashmonai and Josh Breiner report in Haaretz on 9 August 2023:

Two men in their twenties were gunned down early Wednesday in the southern Israeli city of Rahat, taking the total number of murders in the Arab community this year to 146.

According to police, the two were travelling in separate vehicles on Route 40 in the Negev desert when shots were fired from a third vehicle. A third person was also hit by the fire, sustaining serious injuries.

The two victims – cousins identified as Sharif Sheikh Al-Eid and Nidal Sheikh Al-Eid – were pronounced dead on arrival at Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva. Additionally, a third person was moderately injured as a result of the shooting.

Police say they had located a burnt car in a nearby field shortly after the incident and are investigating whether it was used in the shooting. Police say that their initial line of investigation is to determine whether the incident was the result of a feud between families in the Bedouin community.The police said they had arrested a Rahat resident in his 30s in connection with the murder of two residents of the city. The police said that a hearing on the extension of his detention at the Be’er Sheva Magistrate’s Court would be held on Thursday.

“This is a terrible incident, which comes after a bloody feud between families that has been going on for years,” Israel Police Southern District chief Amir Cohen told reporters. “As far as I am concerned, this is at the very top of our list of priorities. We expect the local leadership to take action and for law-abiding citizens to cooperate with police.”

On Tuesday, a 19-year-old Arab Israeli man was shot and killed in the northern city of Shfaram. According to Magen David Adom emergency services, a report was received about a fight in the city at around 6:30 P.M., and the team found Iham Saleh dead at the scene.

On Sunday, a 76-year-old man was found dead in his home in the northern Israeli Arab village of Muqeible. The man was tied to his bed, leading police to suspect a botched robbery. The man was later identified as Abdallah Sa’adi.

Since the beginning of the year, 146 Israeli Arabs have been murdered, more than the total of those murdered in all of 2022.

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