Three wounded by gunshots in Negev, two in critical condition

Two people were killed and one other person was moderately injured in a shooting at the Lehavim junction near Rahat in southern Israel on Tuesday night.

The three were shot at by an individual in a passing vehicle and were brought to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, where two of them were pronounced dead and the moderately injured individual is being treated.

The two people killed were identified as Sharif Anis Sheikh Al-Eid and Ibrahim Nidal Sheikh Al-Eid.

Israel Police have opened an investigation into the incident, with an initial investigation finding that the shooting was conducted as part of a conflict between two feuding clans. A burnt-out vehicle was found in an open field near Highway 310, not far from the scene of the shooting. Police are examining if the vehicle is connected to the shooting.

On Wednesday afternoon, police arrested a resident of Rahat on suspicion of involvement in the shooting. The suspect will be brought for a hearing at the Beersheba Magistrate’s Court on Thursday for police to request to have his arrest extended.

A resident of Beersheba who drove by the Lehavim junction at the time of the shooting told Maariv “I drove by in the car a minute after the shooting, I saw them fleeing. I called the police, reported a car accident because I didn’t understand what had happened until I saw the people in the car bleeding and the windows smashed. It was really scary.”

The brother of one of the victims told Maariv “My brother has passed and my father passed in 2017. We were sprayed [with bullets]. They were behind us and started shooting from the window. I saw God. I don’t know who shot, they were masked. What will it help if I speak?”

“This is a serious incident that comes as a result of a blood feud of several years between families,” said Amir Cohen, the commander of the southern district of Israel Police, at a situation assessment after the shooting. “I instructed the central unit of the Negev region to handle the incident and alongside it we will allocate all the forces and means available to the district to reach the murderers. We will continue to carry out aggressive operations. As far as I’m concerned, this incident is the first priority of the district. We expect the local leadership to act and the normal citizens to cooperate with the police.”

Rahat mayor calls for heavier police presence

Rahat Mayor Ata Abu-Madighem stated that “This is a tragedy and a dangerous spillover, a tribal blood feud that has been going on for several years in the city.”

Abu-Madighem stressed that the residents of Rahat are concerned about the number of unsolved murders and that there are not enough police officers in the city. “Where did the 80 million shekels to add manpower to the Bedouin sector allocated by government decision 1279 go? 16 policemen on each shift in the city of Rahat will not bring the required results in an area of 45,000 dunams with a population of 80,000 inhabitants.”

The mayor called for more police officers to be hired and more security cameras to be installed.

“I call for cooperation between the community and the police, and note with praise the model of the parents’ patrol, numbering 80 volunteers together with the city police, but note with anger how the district command did not bother to invite the mayor of Rahat to the change of commanders ceremony a week ago, and were content with the mayor of Beersheba.”

144 Arabs killed in Israel since beginning of 2023

According to the Abraham Initiatives organization, 144 Arabs have been killed in acts of crime and violence in Israel since the beginning of the year, including 135 Israeli citizens and nine who were not citizens.

In the same period last year, 67 Arabs were killed. 78 of the Arab individuals killed this year were under the age of 30 and eight were women.