1948-occupied Lands: Crime-Related Shootings Claimed Lives of 181 Palestinians

Since the beginning of 2023, 181 Palestinians have lost their lives due to crime-related shootings. The number of casualties has been gradually increasing month by month, starting with 6 deaths in the first month of the year and reaching 28 fatalities in September.

The crimes leading to Palestinian casualties in the 1948-occupied lands have encompassed various forms of violence, including shootings, explosive device detonations, severe beatings, stabbings, family disputes, hit-and-run incidents, and bombings.

A total of 168 shooting incidents occurred in cities, villages, and towns in the 1948-occupied lands since the beginning of the year.

Additionally, seven stabbing incidents resulted in the deaths of seven Palestinians, along with one hit-and-run, one explosion, one family dispute, one brutal beating, and one explosive device detonation.

Among the victims, nine were children and adolescents aged between 2 and 17 years old, whose lives were tragically cut short by these criminal acts.

Israel’s Complicity

The surge in violence is attributed to a lack of sufficient police presence in these areas, coupled with poverty, high unemployment rates, and inadequate access to essential services.

Critics argue that the Israeli security agencies are falling short in their efforts to combat organized crime and may even be seen as “collaborating.”

This collusion is characterized by Israeli occupation authorities refraining from pursuing the culprits, permitting the use of weapons among criminal gangs, and the widespread of drugs.

In January alone, six Palestinians lost their lives in shooting incidents that took place in various locations, including Jaffa, Lod, Umm al-Fahm, Nazareth, Ramla, and the Negev.

In January, the death toll rose to 17, including a man in his thirties who was killed in an explosive device explosion.

In May of this year, 15 Palestinians were killed, including a six-month-old infant and a two-year-old child.

In April, 16 Palestinians were killed in shooting incidents, and one person was brutally beaten to death, with the majority of the victims coming from the Negev region.

During May, 23 Palestinians lost their lives due to crime-related shootings in, including two children, one of whom was two years old, and the other was a year and a half.

The statistics reveal that 25 Palestinians were killed in June, including 23 in shooting incidents, one in a stabbing incident, and another young man who died in a hit-and-run accident.

In July, 24 Palestinians were killed, including 23 in shooting incidents, and one died in an explosion. The age range of the victims during this period was between 19 and 50 years old.

In August, 26 Palestinians were killed in ’48 territories, all of them as a result of shootings. Among them was a man in his seventies who was killed during an armed robbery at his home in Maqibla.

September Proves to be the Bloodiest Month…

In September, 28 Palestinians were killed in ’48 territories, including three women. According to Al-Jarmaq’s data, the majority of homicides were concentrated in the Negev region, with a particularly tragic incident occurring in Basmah Tab’un, where five Palestinians lost their lives in a single crime.

Among the crimes that occurred in September, there were five homicides in various villages in the Negev, and another single crime in Basmah Tab’un resulted in the deaths of five Palestinians.

One Palestinian was killed in each of the following locations: Qalansawe, Iksal, Ramla, Umm al-Fahm, Tuba-Zangariyye, Masmas, Tayibe, Kabul, and Arab al-Khawaled.

Two Palestinians lost their lives in shooting incidents in September, with crimes taking place in the following towns: Kafr Qara, Jadeidi-Makr, and Fureidis. In addition, three Palestinians were killed in shooting incidents in Haifa, with one being killed in Acre.

The statistics also indicate that, among the victims in the deadly September, three were women, eight were in their twenties, three in their thirties, and six were under twenty years old.