Description

Photo:
Diar Omari, 20. Published by IMEMC News

See videos at IMEMC News Source Link
____

by IMEMC News
May 6, 2023

A 19-year-old Palestinian resident of the village of Sandala, part of the Gilboa Regional Council in northern Israel, was shot and killed Saturday by an Israeli paramilitary colonial settler from the nearby Israeli colony Gan Ner.

The victim was identified as Diar Omari, 20, a Palestinian-Israeli citizen from Sandala, not far from Affula in the Northern District. He leaves behind two sisters and his parents.

According to local sources, Amri was critically wounded by multiple gunshots and was taken to HaEmek Medical Center in Afula, where he was declared dead.

Israeli police said it arrested a 32-year-old Israeli man suspected of being the shooter.

The Israeli gunman is a reserve soldier with the Golani Brigade of the Israeli army and was discharged just a few days ago.

He was not named, but the police said he had a handgun, suspected of being the gun used to shoot Omari.

The attack took place after a traffic incident; both men had been driving cars but got out, and the Israeli man got out his gun and began shooting at the Palestinian, fatally wounding him.

One of Diyar’s relatives told the Arabs48 News website said the whole issue started after a simple traffic incident before the two argued and the Diyar started walking to his car to leave the area and avoid further tension, but the Israeli shot him without justification since it was clear he was not in any danger.

A video released on social media showed the two men arguing, and then the Israeli human pulled out a gun and opened fire at Diar.

The incident could have ended without a fatality if the Israeli gunman did not use his weapon not only to shoot the young man but to inflict fatal wounds, especially since he fired several rounds at him.

Following the shooting, protests began in the village of Sandala. Israeli police deployed into the village, assaulted many Palestinians who protests the young man’s murder, and detained three.

The Israeli police did not reveal sufficient information but said the Israeli who fatally shot Omari claimed: “he killed him in self-defense after feeling his life was in danger,” and added that the officers took the gun he used in the shooting.

The police also detained two persons who allegedly hurled stones at Israeli cars while protesting the young man’s death and called on the Israelis Gan Ner settlement, south of Affula, to remain in their colony until the situation calms down.
___

Israeli Shoots Arab Citizen Dead, 200 Residents of Nearby Town Protest Killing

'A racist policy and bloodletting of the Palestinian citizens of Israel by the government,' one Arab lawmaker says about the road rage killing

by Adi Hashmonai, Josh Breiner and Jack Khoury
for Haaretz
May 6, 2023

A 19-year-old resident of a northern Israeli Arab village was shot dead by a 32-year-old Jewish Israeli on Saturday. Two-hundred residents of the victim's village of Sandala are protesting the killing, which police suspect was a result of a road rage brawl.

The suspect, a resident of the nearby town of Gan Ner, was arrested at the scene while possessing a gun. In a statement released Sunday, Israeli police identified the suspect as Denis Mukin, and said that his arrest has been extended. It further noted that Mukin was driving under the influence of alcohol, and with a revoked driver's license.

Footage of the incident shows the two arguing by the side of the road when the suspect eventually shoots 19-year-old Dayar Omari and then runs to his car.

The suspect's defense attorney Nadav Greenwald claimed that his client acted in self-defense. According to him, the suspect feared that Omari was carrying an assault weapon, prompting him to shoot in an attempt to save his own life.

He further stated that the suspect was attacked and fired a shot into the air as a warning before ultimately used deadly force. The attorney also denied any suggestion that the incident had a nationalist or political motivation.

A hearing on the extension of the suspect's detention was held on Sunday morning at the Magistrate's Court in Nazareth.

Around 200 residents of Sandala demanding justice for the killing approached the entrance to Gan Ner with some throwing stones towards the town. Police forces arrived at the scene and a female officer was lightly wounded. Some Israeli Arabs called for a mass protests in Umm al-Fahm on Saturday night.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh also condemned the murder and called on international organization to intervene and emphasized that all these events will be added to the case before the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Hamas also released a statement condemning Omari's killing and called for "his blood to be avenged in order to curb the arrogance of the occupation."

Head of the United Arab List, Mansour Abbas, released a statement saying "We condemn the murder of the young man, Dayar Omari, and we consider the Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir government responsible for the outbreak of crime and the ease with which defenseless innocents are shot." He further called on the police to investigate and bring the perpetrator to justice.

Gan Ner's town committee sent a message to its residents stating that "those who do not have to leave the town are better off not driving on the road right now." The committee's chairman told Haaretz that he decided to close the exit gate.

After the incident, lawmaker Walid al-Huashla from the United Arab List party spoke out against National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's decision to loosen firearm permits.

"This is the painful and terrible result when the minister distributes arms left and right. ... A civilian was murdered when he posed no danger. This policy will lead to chaos and street executions, just like what happened today," al-Huashla said.

Hadash lawmaker Aida Touma Sliman said that the killing "is a clear product of a racist policy and bloodletting of the Palestinian citizens of Israel by the government, the [National Security] minister and the police commissioner."

On Saturday evening, a 30-year-old Acre resident known to police was shot dead as well. He was identified as Hamada Salam.

Since the beginning of the year, 71 people have been murdered in Israel's Arab community. According to the Abraham Initiatives NGO, 116 Arabs were killed due to crime and violence in 2022, as compared with 126 in 2021.

This past week, a spike in homicides saw 15 people killed, with an unusual amount of the victims and perpetrators being Jewish.

Hundreds of people demonstrated in the Arab cities of Kalansua, Ein Mahal and Umm al-Fahm against the government and police's poor handling of violence and crime on Saturday. In Umm al-Fahm, dozens of vehicles drove in a convoy with pictures of those killed in the violent incidents on them.

On Friday, a man in his 30s was shot to death in northern Israel near Nazareth in what police suspect was a criminal dispute.

On Thursday, a 31-year-old man was murdered in the central city of Netanya when a bomb placed on his motorcycle exploded.

On Wednesday, five people were killed in various criminal incidents across the country.

Features