Israel Shaken by Unusual Series of Suspected Criminal Acts of Violence

Israel was shaken on Sunday by an unusual series of suspected criminal acts of violence that left five members of Israel’s Arab minority dead in a single day. Two people died in explosions involving car bombs in the Tel Aviv district of Jaffa and in the suburb of Holon. Three others were killed in two separate killings in Israel’s Arab communities. All four incidents are linked to organised or criminal violence, according to the police’s findings so far. Criminal violence has escalated among Israel’s Arab minority in recent years, where gangs extort residents and business owners for protection and frequently kill those who fail to pay. In Jaffa, part of the Tel Aviv municipal area, a car bomb killed a man in his 40s, police and emergency services said, while Israeli news reports reported that the explosion left the man’s six-year-old son injured. “The background is criminal,” the police said. A second car bomb struck in Holon, south of Tel Aviv, severely injuring a man who later died at hospital, the force said.