A surge of Israeli-Arab homicides continued on Saturday night with a shooting attack in Lod that killed one woman and critically injured another in what police believe is part of a long-running feud between rival Arab clans.
The initial investigation indicates that unknown assailants entered the apartment and opened fire on the women, who were sisters-in-law, both in their 60s. One of the victims was a widow whose husband was murdered in Lod five years ago. Another family member was also murdered a year before that. Police confirmed that one of the victims was the mother of a known criminal.
“Upon receiving a report of a shooting incident in which two women in their 60s, residents of the area, were shot, we launched operational searches and arrested five suspects,” police said in a statement.
Magen David Adom paramedic Mandy Amitai said, “There was a lot of commotion at the scene. The two injured women were unconscious with injuries to their bodies. We performed medical checks, but one of them was in critical condition, and we had to declare her dead on the spot. The second woman was treated immediately and evacuated to the hospital while receiving life-saving care.”
According to a mid-year report released by the Abraham Initiatives, 128 Arab citizens were murdered in the first half of 2025, a 20% increase compared to the same period last year.
The spike is a continuation of the Arab sector’s 230 murders in 2024. In 2023, a record number of 244 Israeli-Arabs were murdered, more than double the 120 homicides in 2022.