A 36-year-old bus driver from East Jerusalem, Morad Shwiki, was shot dead overnight in Holon in what police described as an organized crime ambush. Shwiki, a father of five with no criminal background, was killed while sitting in his car after finishing his shift. The shooting occurred around the same time that missiles from Iran targeted central areas of the country and Jerusalem.

The killing marked the fourth homicide since the start of the week and came amid a broader surge in violence within the Arab community. Shwiki’s family disputed the police assessment, suggesting the attack may have been a nationalist hate crime. Meanwhile, bus drivers in the central Dan region staged a work stoppage to protest what they described as growing violence against public transportation workers and insufficient police protection.

So far this year, 71 members of the Arab community have been killed in homicides, significantly higher than during the same period last year, which was already the deadliest year on record. Advocacy groups and community leaders have accused the national security minister of failing to curb organized crime, saying that escalating gang violence has left many residents living in fear.