JAFFA, Sunday, January 24, 2021 (WAFA) – A Palestinian man was shot dead and another one seriously injured today afternoon by an unknown assailant in the Arab city of Jaffa, in the Palestinian land occupied since 1948, marking the latest episode in a crime wave that has hit hard the native Palestinian population for more than two years.

Mohammad Abu Najem, said to be in his forties, was shot dead and his cousin was seriously injured from gunshots fired at them by an assailant in the Old City neighborhood of Jaffa.

Since the beginning of the year, at least six Palestinians holding the Israeli citizenship have been shot dead in a continuing wave of gun violence and organized crime, blamed for Israeli police's inaction to sue perpetrators and hold them to account.

Several protests and calls by the Palestinians in Israel, who make up more than 20 percent of Israel's population, were held in the past few weeks in condemnation of the government's failure to fight the rise in crime in their towns.

Palestinians with Israeli citizenship blame the crime wave crisis on Israeli police inaction, saying that police do not enforce the law in Arab cities and towns. They say that the absence of the rule of law has enabled illegal weapons, protection networks and organized crime organizations to spread freely in Arab communities.

Last month, a convoy of hundreds of cars blocked one of Israel's main highways to protest government inaction. According to figures from the Aman Center, since 2000, 1,528 people have been murdered in the Arab community in Israel.

During 2020, there were 113 murders, 96 men and 17 women. Numbers have been steadily climbing since 2015, when there were 58 murders.

M.N