2 killed, 1 injured in Taibe drive-by shooting

Shooting is second drive-by double killing in weeks; eye witnesses say large number of rounds fired into car by gunman on Route 444.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
crime scene generic 311 (photo credit: Israel Police [illustrative])
crime scene generic 311
(photo credit: Israel Police [illustrative])
Two men were killed and a woman lightly wounded in a drive-by shooting on their vehicle in Taibe on Sunday night.
The casualties have been named as 27-year-old Anan Abdel-Kadar of Taibe, and Adi Matani, 20, of Kalansuwa.
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Eyewitnesses said a large number of rounds were fired into the car by a gunman on Route 444, a central road.
Magen David Adom paramedics who were called to the scene reported finding two bodies in the bullet-riddled vehicle.
The woman was evacuated to the hospital for treatment.
Abdel-Kadar was a member of the al-Kadar family, which has been involved in a longstanding lethal feud with the rival Hariri family in Taibe. Police believe the double homicide came in revenge for last week’s lethal shooting of 17-year-old Hamad Jabali, whose older brother is tied to the Hariri family.
On March 17, two men, both from the Kadar family, were killed, and a third was critically wounded in a similar drive-by shooting carried out with an automatic weapon in Taibe. In that attack, the victims were sitting in their vehicle when a second car drove past and bullets sprayed the car, police said.
A fourth occupant of the vehicle escaped the car on foot and is being sought by police. The gunshot victims had police records.
In January, a man was shot dead in the town.
Last week, a suspect was arrested on suspicion of carrying out a double homicide in Taibe three years ago following an alleged road rage incident.
Police, highly concerned about the escalating violence in the area, recently conducted several raids to confiscate illicit weapons in an effort to curb the shootings.