Rahat gunfight leaves 2 dead, 3 wounded

Police suspect that a conflict over property may have triggered the violence.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Two men were shot dead in the Beduin town of Rahat on Tuesday night when a dispute between rival families erupted into a mass brawl.
The men, aged 25 and 30, were killed during a fight that broke out at the entrance to the Negev town in the early evening. Police are investigating the cause of the incident, and suspect that a conflict over property may have triggered the violence.
Two people were moderately hurt in the fight, and a third man sustained light wounds from a rock thrown at him. The wounded were evacuated by Magen David Adom paramedics to Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center.  Following the shootings, Negev Police flooded the town with officers on foot and on horseback in a bid to separate the warring parties and prevent revenge attacks. Respected elders from the Beduin community are also reportedly attempting to cool tensions in the town.
Police arrested three people soon after the incident on suspicion of involvement in the double homicide. The investigation is being headed by the Negev Police’s Central Unit.
Meanwhile, in Kiryat Gat, a 28-year-old man was evacuated to thehospital with a stab wound to his stomach. The man was said to be inmoderate to critical condition. Police are investigating the incident.
InZichron Ya’acov, police arrested two suspects on suspicion of raping a27-year-old woman on a beach near the Arab village of Jisr e-Zarka onTuesday.
The woman told police she had met the suspects on thebeach and spent the afternoon with them before they raped her. Thesuspects have denied the allegations.