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One man was killed and another was critically wounded in a drive-by shooting on the country's main highway while being escorted by police.
The two brothers were part of a convoy of cars that left the city of Lod under police protection in an effort to separate two warring crime families.
The shooting occurred on the Highway 6 and is believed to be in retaliation for a murder that took place in the central city a few hours earlier.
The two men and their relatives, members of the Bedouin Abu Saluk clan, were whisked out of the city with a police escort in order to prevent more killing in revenge for the murder of a rival clan member, 60-year-old Yousef Azberga, who was found dead in the early morning hours.
According to some reports, the police cars protecting the convoy were distracted by a decoy vehicle that approached them, driving at great speed. Two of the three police cars left the convoy in pursuit of the vehicle, heading back in the direction of Lod.
At that moment, a different car approached the convoy and unknown assailants inside it, fired multiple shots at the two brothers from the Abu Saluk family, killing one and critically injuring another.
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A bullet shell found at the scene of a fatal drive by shooting on Monday
(Photo: Shaul Golan)
An ambulance rushed the two victims to the Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikva where one was pronounced dead on arrival.
Avichai Hadad, deputy director of Magen David Adom Yarkon branch, said paramedics who arrived at the scene found the men unconscious in a car that had been run off the road. "We provided them with life-saving treatment and quickly evacuated them to the hospital in critical condition."
At the same time, riots broke out in Lod, with residents hurling stones and setting fire to cars outside the city's police station. During a police attempt to arrest a suspect in the violent attack, one officer was injured.
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Violent riots in Lod following the killing of rival crime family members
(Cameraman: Avi Hai )
Violence in the Arab sector has been escalating in recent months, with over 100 people killed since the beginning of 2020.