Police have solved just 12 percent of homicides in Arab communities this year, according to the Abraham Initiatives watchdog, as violent crime continues to surge in cities and towns across Israel.

In a report released Tuesday night, the organization said that the Arab community has seen 144 homicide deaths in the first half of the year. The victims include 140 Arab citizens and four Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem, who are subject to the authority of the Israel Police despite lacking citizenship.

Since then, the number of Arab sector homicide deaths has risen to 147, following a lethal car bombing on Tuesday and a pair of unrelated shootings that left two young men dead Wednesday morning in northern Israel.

One of the men, a 24-year-old bus driver named Ali Suwaed, was reportedly killed in Shfaram in a bitter dispute between two families based in the northern city.

The other victim was identified as 21-year-old Kamel Abu Kalib. Police believe he was assassinated in an act of revenge following a Tuesday car bombing that killed a high-profile mobster linked to the Hariri crime family, Hebrew outlets reported.

According to the group’s most recent data — which factors in the two young men killed Wednesday — this year’s toll of homicide victims is 15% higher than that of 2025 during the same period.

“After the sharp rise in the number of victims in 2025, crime continues to run rampant in 2026 as well, and the number of victims in this current half-year period is larger than the number of victims in the first half of 2025,”........

© The Times of Israel