Five people were killed within hours on Sunday in a spate of violence that hit the Arab Israeli community, including shootings and a car bombing in Jaffa that also wounded a six-year-old boy who was in the vehicle, police and medics said.
A second car explosion hours later in Holon, just south of Jaffa, killed a man of about 30, first responders said.
The deaths, attributed to gangland killings and family disputes, took the community’s toll this year to at least 141, according to a watchdog.
The violence began overnight when one person was killed and another seriously injured by gunfire in the central region Arab Israeli city of Taibe, according to a statement from Israel Police.
Officers were on the scene and began searching for suspects, the force said. Police said the motive was apparently a family dispute.
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The Ynet news site identified the fatality as Bakhar Nuseirat, 19, and reported that he was shot at the entrance to his home, the same spot where his cousin had previously been gunned down.
According to the outlet, Nuseirat was arrested in 2025 on suspicion that he hired a hitman in connection with a homicide case in which his cousin, Moatasem Nuseirat, was killed over a land dispute. He was released due to a lack of evidence.
לאחר האירוע ביפו: רכב התפוצץ בחולון, בן 30 נמצא בזירה כשהוא מחוסר הכרה @hadasgrinberg pic.twitter.com/9jPUTCdbUc
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) June 28, 2026
Hours later, on Sunday, at around 7:30 a.m., a man in his 40s was killed, and his six-year-old son was injured when a car bomb went off in their vehicle in Jaffa.
Ynet identified the man as Iyad Ra’ab.
Police said the incident was an organized crime killing that may be linked to a shooting last week in which a teen was killed.
Police and rescue forces at the scene where a car exploded in a suspected gangland killing, in Jaffa, June 28, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Medics declared the victim dead at the scene on Saharon Street, said the Magen David Adom emergency service.
The young boy was moderately injured and was being treated at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon. According to the reports, the boy suffered burns to his face but managed to exit the car on his own before medics found him.
Police and rescue forces at the scene where a car exploded in a suspected gangland killing, in Jaffa, June 28, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Police said they were looking at the possibility that the suspected car bombing was a revenge killing for the lethal shooting of a teenage boy last week, also in Jaffa, which abuts Tel Aviv.
Tel Aviv District police chief Haim Sargarof told media at the scene that the car traveled some 100 meters before the explosion happened, indicating the bomb had been placed before the driver got in.
He said bomb experts determined that about half a kilogram of explosives was placed under the vehicle.
“This is a very serious incident,” Sargarof said. “We are aware of a feud going on in Jaffa, and on Thursday, there was an incident. We are looking at a connection. It is still not certain. All avenues are being looked into.”
Mid-morning, two more men were shot dead in the central Arab city of Qalansawe, first responders said.
Medics pronounced the victims, both men in their 40s, dead at the scene.
Police did not immediately comment on the lethal shooting.
Footage showed two men pull up on a motorcycle before firing into a vehicle.
יורד מהאופנוע, פותח בירי אל תוך הרכב – ונמלט: תיעוד הרצח הכפול בקלנסווה https://t.co/cnCy6i5pBi@hadasgrinberg pic.twitter.com/PmenbGMPqF
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) June 28, 2026
According to figures from The Abraham Initiatives, which tracks violent crime in Arab society, at least 141 members of the Arab community have been killed in homicides since the start of the year. That compares with 120 people during the same period last year.
Last year marked the deadliest year for Arab society on record, with 252 Arab citizens killed, as a years-long crisis of violent crime beset the minority. At the current rate, 2026 will surpass that record.
Homicides in Arab society soared to 244 in 2023 — more than double the previous year — and have since stayed high, with many in the community blaming far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir for inaction while in office.
Ben Gvir, who is responsible for the police, did not make an immediate comment on the weekend deaths.
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