2 shot dead in Kalansuwa, including mayor’s brother

3 more people injured; attacks come from passing car; shooters flee scene; police open investigation; injured taken to local hospitals.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Kalansawa shooting police 311 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Kalansawa shooting police 311
(photo credit: Courtesy)
A drive-by shooting on Wednesday night at a crowded cafe in the Arab town of Kalansuwa east of Netanya claimed the lives of Wassim Natur, 35, and Saadi Hadija, 53, the brother of Mayor Mahmoud Hadija.
Magen David Adom paramedics said the two men sustained gunshot wounds to the chest and were rushed to the Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba, where they were declared dead.
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Three people were lightly to- moderately injured with gunshot wounds, and have been hospitalized.
Detectives are highly concerned by the willingness of the gunman to open fire in a crowded place, and have tasked the Central District’s central unit with leading the investigation.
Large numbers of police officers were deployed to the scene after the shooting. Sharon subdistrict head Asst.- Cmdr. Shimon Shomroni and Central District police head Cmdr. Bentzi Sao attended the scene.
One possibility being examined by police is that Saadi Hadija, who was a contractor for agricultural work, was the target of the attack, although the investigation is still at an early phase and no motives have been ruled out.
Meanwhile, a man stabbed his wife to death and hanged himself in the Galilee Druse village of Samia early on Thursday morning.
Moniv Ibrahim, 49, and his wife, Najua Ibrahim, 41, leave behind five children; the youngest is aged seven and the oldest is 16.
The murder was witnessed by the couple’s children. The oldest tried to stop the stabbing and was wounded by his father.
The children alerted Magen David Adom paramedics, who discovered the man’s body hanging in a stairwell in the family home and declared him dead.
They then found the woman in the couple’s bedroom, and pronounced her dead as well.
The couple had been involved in a long-standing feud, and Moniv Ibrahim had resided on the ground floor of the two-story home. He scaled a ladder from his section of the home to the upper floor and began stabbing his wife repeatedly, his children told police.
Najua Ibrahim headed the al- Basma special needs school in Samia. Her violent death has left staff and pupils in a state of shock.
Police say the family has no record of domestic abuse complaints.
The scene was attended by Galilee subdistrict deputy head Dep.-Cmdr. Kobi Bahar and local police commanders.
On Wednesday night, an 18- year-old man was shot dead in the Beduin town of Lakiya following a fight.
Two people were seriously injured after being shot at approximately 8 p.m. in a grocery store in the Negev town, and were rushed to the Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba. Doctors soon declared the 18-year-old man dead.
Police suspect the shooting was part of a dispute between families.