Mohammad Watad, a youth from Jatt, a Palestinian Arab town in Israel, was stabbed to death by unknown assailants June 17. The crime, which shook the Palestinian community in Israel, came only a few hours before another Palestinian in Jaffa was killed in a shooting, and a third youth from Kafr Yasif also succumbed to his wounds after being shot June 16. The latest crimes bring the number of Palestinian victims of crimes in Israel to 45 since early 2020. 

These figures, which have been on the rise for years, are haunting the Palestinian community inside Israel given the absence of any solutions, and the subsequent social and economic impacts these crimes have had on the Palestinians in Israel.

In response, Palestinians in Israel are holding protests demanding that the Israeli police hold the perpetrators accountable. They accuse Israel of turning a blind eye to what has become organized crimes in recent years, and believe that the local leaderships — including local councils, political parties and Arab Knesset members — are unable to counter such a phenomenon, as they are placed on the sidelines of security issues that the Israeli government handles.

Since early 2020, the number of killings hit 45 by June 17, including eight women, while 97 Palestinians were killed in 2019, including 11 women, according to the Aman Center – The Arab Center for Safe Society, which follows up and fights against such crimes.