Woman shot dead outside her home in Qalansawe, killer flees

A 33-year-old woman was killed Saturday after being shot outside her home in the Arab town of Qalansawe, east of Netanya.

An unidentified man shot at the woman as she stood beside her car and fled the scene.

Paramedics treated the woman at the scene and rushed her to Kfar Saba’s Meir Medical Center in critical condition, but she later died of her wounds.

Police launched an investigation into the shooting.

Arab communities in Israel have seen a surge in violence in recent years, driven mainly, but not exclusively, by organized crime. Arab Israelis blame police, who they say have failed to crack down on powerful criminal organizations and largely ignore the violence, which includes family feuds, mafia turf wars and violence against women.

The Abraham Initiatives, which monitors and campaigns against violence in the Arab community, said that 2021 saw 125 Arabs killed as a result of violence and crime — an all-time record.

Earlier this year, Public Security Minister Omer Barlev said that “criminal families in the Arab sector” were “holding the community by the throat.”

Last year, the cabinet passed a plan to allocate NIS 2.5 billion ($750 million) over the next five years to fight the rampant crime in Arab communities.