The Israel Police in the North confiscated around 200 illegal weapons and arrested over 200 suspects over the last few weeks in a major crackdown on crime in Arab communities, a police spokesperson announced on Friday.
Since January, police have been conducting operation “On Target” that encompasses a series of focused raids on known criminal bodies within the Arab community.
The decision to launch the crackdown followed a major uptick in crime in the nation’s Arab sector.
Forty-seven people have been killed so far this year in crime-related incidents within this sector, compared with 31 individuals during the same period last year, according to the nonprofit Abraham Initiatives, which monitors and reports violent crime within the Arab sector in Israel.
This data includes a murder that took place in Nazareth on Saturday.
The weapons confiscated during these raids ranged from pistols to rifles to explosives. Those who have been arrested are suspected of committing crimes, including violent actions, shooting incidents, and extortion.
Three murder suspects arrested
Police also announced on Friday that they had arrested three suspects for the murder of a man in a Bedouin village on Thursday.
In Segev Shalom, Farid Abu Mubarak was rushed to Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center in critical condition after sustaining piercing wounds to his upper body.
Police opened an investigation, locating the three suspects, all in their 30s. One was caught in Segev Shalom, while the other two were found in a car at the Gush Etzion junction.
M16 found in car after man caught high while driving
Another man was arrested by police on Friday after an M16 was found in his car. A resident of Na’ura in Nazareth, this man was pulled over after he was spotted smoking marijuana while driving. Upon searching his car, police found the gun under the backseat.
The driver was arrested and taken in for further questioning. It was also revealed that he did not possess a valid driver’s license.
Tens of thousands have taken to the streets across the country in recent weeks to protest the government’s handling of violent crime in Israel’s Arab society, with Arab and Jewish Israelis marching together and calling for stronger law enforcement intervention and safer streets.
Tobias Siegal contributed to this report.