Jerusalem Post/Israel News/Crime in IsraelIn the same incident, Jonathan Khouri, an 18-year-old Arab Christian resident of the city’s Hadar neighborhood, was killed, while a third young man was hospitalized and remains in serious condition.Follow us on GooglePolice at the scene where two people were murdered in Haifa, northern Israel, February 18, 2026. Ilustrative.(photo credit: FLASH90)ByYOAV ETIELJULY 4, 2026 20:18A 17-year-old child became the 150th person murdered in Israel's Arab community in 2026 after he was shot in Haifa, Rambam Hospital announced on Saturday.Wiaam Faisal, 17, and Jonathan Khouri, 18, died in a shooting in Haifa. A third young man was hospitalized and remains in serious condition.During the shooting incident, an ambulance driver who happened to pass by the scene noticed civilians waving her down to stop and was first on the scene. A report was then received of a shooting at three men near a neighborhood snack bar, a local gathering place opposite the shore in the Ein Hayam neighborhood. There had already been previous acts of violence near that snack bar.“We saw three men who were unconscious with severe gunshot wounds to their bodies,” medical teams said. “One of the wounded had no pulse and was not breathing. We carried out medical checks, but unfortunately we had no choice but to declare his death. At the same time, we provided lifesaving medical treatment to the two other men and evacuated them to the hospital in serious condition.”Thousands attend a protest against the violence in the Arab community, in Tel Aviv. January 31, 2026. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)Violence on the Arab sector on the riseAt this point last year, through the beginning of July, 128 people were murdered by violence in the Arab sector, while the year before that, in 2024, “only” 230 Arab citizens were murdered in circumstances of violence and crime, making 2026 one of the most violent years.The latest wave of killings comes just days after Police Commissioner Danny Levi convened an emergency meeting of the senior command staff. The meeting was called following a prior series of five murders in less than half a day in Tayibe, Kafr Qasim, Jaffa and Holon.The worsening violence is drawing sharp criticism of the authorities. MK Ayman Odeh said this amounted to abandoning society as a whole and pointed an accusing finger at National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. At the Abraham Initiatives organization, they added that the government and the police are in complete collapse and said the leadership’s silence amounts to permitting the blood of citizens to be shed.Follow us on Google