Israeli Arabs demand action over spike in murders
Israeli Arab groups are calling for an emergency session of the country’s parliament, after the latest series of murders within the community.
Four men were shot dead in the Arab town of Abu Snan, in the northern Galilee region, on Tuesday.
Three were members of the same family, including a candidate for the local mayoral election.
Opposition politicians have blamed the government for failing to crackdown on organised crime gangs.
The bodies of the four men were found in a field after what paramedics said was a significant amount of gunfire.
One of victims was Ghazi Saab, a 53-year-old who had been due to announce his candidacy for Abu Snan’s mayor later that day.
The others were identified as his nephews, Zaher al-Din Saab, 45, and Amir Saab, 28, as well as 66-year-old Salman Khalab from the nearby town of Yarka.
A cousin of Ghazi Saab told the Haaretz newspaper that he had been a senior Israeli Border Police officer and businessman, and that “the whole family is respectable”. “He was one of five candidates for council head, but I don’t think it’s related,” they added.
A police spokesperson also said there was no evidence so far connecting Mr Saab’s candidacy to the murder. —BBC
