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5 dead in gang-related shooting near Nazareth as government aims to stem wave of Arab-Israeli killings
(JTA) — Five people were killed in a gang-related shooting at a car wash near Nazareth in northern Israel, continuing a rising wave of violent deaths in Arab-Israeli areas and prompting increasingly urgent calls for action to address the bloodshed.
The incident on Thursday was the most fatal criminal attack in Israel since 2009, according to the publication Ynet, and comes amid a string of killings in Arab-Israeli communities. Since the beginning of the year, 97 Arab-Israelis have been killed by violent means, compared to 35 in the same period last year, according to the Times of Israel. In protest of Thursday’s shooting, an umbrella Arab-Israeli leadership organization called a general strike for tomorrow.
The shooting in the town of Yafa an-Naseriyye was reportedly related to a longstanding feud between two Arab crime families, though bystanders may also have been killed. The victims range in age from 15 to 29, according to Haaretz. The previous night, a man was killed in a separate shooting in Nazareth, and there were other shootings on Thursday as well.
For years, Arab-Israelis have lobbied for the Israeli government to take crime in their cities more seriously and to devote more resources to stemming the tide of killings. Those calls have grown louder this year as the death toll has skyrocketed.
Arab-Israelis have also prompted debate this week over who will oversee the effort to reduce violence in Arab-Israeli municipalities. The politician in charge of the police response to the crime wave is Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister, who said Monday that he would select a point person to focus on the issue. He has also pushed for the creation of a 2000-member national guard under his authority, a proposal Israel’s government advanced earlier this year.
On Thursday, Ben Gvir visited the site of the car wash shooting and, Ynet reported, said there had been “decades of abandonment and a lack of governance that have blown up in our faces.” He additionally called Arab-Israeli society the “Wild West.” Police commissioner Kobi Shabtai also came to the scene, where he was greeted with protesters calling him a “murderer.”
Ben-Gvir demanded that the Shin Bet intelligence agency get involved in the response to the killings. The Shin Bet is known for its operations against and interrogations of Palestinian terror suspects, and involving the agency in combating the crime wave has been a controversial prospect among Arab Israelis.
Arab-Israeli politicians have said they mistrust Ben-Gvir’s politics and intentions, and they have instead appealed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take charge of the issue. In a meeting with Arab-Israeli lawmakers who are usually among his most outspoken opponents, Netanyahu promised to appoint a steering committee, which he would chair, to address the crime wave.
“In order to defeat criminal organization, trust is needed, and we have no trust in Ben Gvir, the racist,” read a statement earlier this week from the Arab-Israeli Hadash-Taal Party, according to the Times of Israel. “A proper government would have fired him a long time ago.”
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Amid Iran Standoff, Witkoff and Kushner Pose Aboard USS Abraham Lincoln Aircraft Carrier
Steve Witkoff (R) aboard the aircraft carrier Lincoln. Photo via i24 / social media used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law
i24 News – Special US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited on Saturday the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier.
The duo, who led the US in the indirect nuclear talks with Iran on Friday, visited the aircraft carrier at the invitation of US Central Command chief, Adm. Brad Cooper.
The carrier arrived in the region last week as part of a US “armada” amid rising tensions with the Islamic regime of Iran. It is stationed in the Arabian Sea.
The visit came hours after US President Donald Trump stated that while the talks went well, “But I think Iran looks like they want to make a deal very badly, as they should. Last time, they decided maybe not to do it, but I think they probably feel differently. We’ll see what the deal is. It’ll be different than last time. And we have a big armada. We have a big fleet heading in that direction. It’ll be there pretty soon. So we’ll see how that works out.”
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Pentagon Says It Will Cut Academic Ties With Harvard University
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrives to administer the oath to U.S. Army National Guard soldiers during a re-enlistment ceremony at the base of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 6, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said on Friday his department was ending professional military education, fellowships, and certificate programs with Harvard University, marking the Trump administration’s latest escalation against the school.
President Donald Trump’s administration has cracked down on top US universities, including Harvard, over a range of issues such as pro-Palestinian protests against US ally Israel’s assault on Gaza, diversity programs, transgender policies and climate initiatives.
“Starting now and beginning in the 2026-27 school year, I am discontinuing all graduate level Professional Military Education (PME), all fellowships and certificate programs between Harvard University and the War Department for active duty service members,” Hegseth, who himself holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, said on X.
The policy will apply to service members enrolling in future programs while those currently enrolled will be allowed to finish their courses, Hegseth said.
He also added that the Pentagon will evaluate similar relationships with other universities in the coming weeks.
Rights advocates have raised free speech, academic freedom and due process concerns over the government’s actions against universities.
A Harvard spokesperson directed Reuters to a page on the history of the university’s ties with the US military that says Harvard has played a “significant role” in America’s military traditions since the nation’s founding.
TRUMP-HARVARD TENSIONS CONTINUE
The university has previously sued the Trump administration over the government’s attempt to freeze federal funding.
Hegseth accused Harvard of “hate America activism,” also calling the university antisemitic in a reference to pro-Palestinian protests.
Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the government wrongly equates criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza with antisemitism and advocacy for Palestinian rights with support for extremism.
Harvard has condemned discrimination on campus. Its antisemitism and Islamophobia task forces found last year that Jews and Muslims faced bigotry after the start of Israel’s war in Gaza following an October 2023 Hamas attack.
Trump’s attempts to freeze federal funds for Harvard have faced legal resistance and the two sides have failed to reach a deal thus far.
Trump said this week his administration was seeking $1 billion from Harvard to settle probes into school policies.
Some Ivy League schools have reached agreements with the Trump administration and accepted certain government demands. Columbia University has agreed to pay more than $220 million to the government while Brown University has agreed to pay $50 million to support local workforce development.
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Netanyahu Expected to Meet Trump in US on Wednesday and Discuss Iran
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signs the joint declaration of mutual recognition with Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi, officially establishing full diplomatic relations between the two nations. Photo: Screenshot
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet US President Donald Trump on Wednesday in Washington, where they will discuss negotiations with Iran, Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday.
Iranian and US officials held indirect nuclear talks in the Omani capital Muscat on Friday. Both sides said more talks were expected to be held again soon.
A regional diplomat briefed by Tehran on the talks told Reuters Iran insisted on its “right to enrich uranium” during the negotiations with the US, and that Tehran’s missile capabilities were not raised in the discussions.
Iranian officials have ruled out putting Iran’s missiles – one of the largest such arsenals in the Middle East – up for discussion, and have said Tehran wants recognition of its right to enrich uranium.
PRIME MINISTER SEEKS MISSILE CURBS
“The Prime Minister believes any negotiations must include limitations on ballistic missiles and a halting of the support for the Iranian axis,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
Wednesday’s meeting would be the seventh between Netanyahu and Trump since the US president returned to office in January last year.
The pair had been expected to meet on February 18, but the talks were brought forward amid the renewed engagement with Iran. A spokesperson for Netanyahu did not immediately comment on why the date was moved up.
Last June, the US joined an Israeli military campaign against Iran’s uranium enrichment and other nuclear installations, marking the most direct American military action ever against the Islamic Republic.
Iran retaliated by launching a missile attack on a US base in Qatar.
The US and Israel have repeatedly warned Iran that they would strike again if Tehran pressed ahead with its enrichment and ballistic missile programs.
World powers and regional states fear a breakdown in the negotiations would ignite another conflict between the US and Iran that could spill over to the rest of the oil-producing region.
Iran has vowed a harsh response to any strike and has cautioned neighboring Gulf Arab countries that host US bases that they could be in the firing line if they were involved in an attack.