Man Shot and Killed in Car En Route to Wedding

Mohammed Yassin, a man in his 20s from Tamra, was killed about a week and a half ago when a vehicle he was traveling in was shot at while en route to a wedding. His family is still struggling to cope with the tragedy, which occurred a year and a half after his cousin, 17-year-old Jawad, was also murdered. "I don't think my son was the target of the murder," said his father, Samar. "But murder is murder, whatever the circumstances."

Samar explained that on the day of the incident, his wife drove their son to meet friends, and from there they traveled to Kabul to attend a wedding. Mohammed was sitting in the back seat when unknown assailants opened fire on the car. Moments later, his friends realized he had been hit in the upper body. He did not survive long.

The father believes the shooting was random, noting that another vehicle was also hit. He stated, "He was sitting in the back seat and it was hard to see him." Samar also mentioned the loss of his nephew, who was killed in a shooting a year prior without cause, expressing concern that crime has reached their community and could affect any home in Arab towns.

Samar criticized the lack of deterrence and enforcement, fearing his son's murder case might not be solved. "I don't know if there will be developments in my son's murder investigation, or if the case will be thrown in the trash as happens in other cases," he said, adding, "When a person's time comes to die, it comes. It was his fate. God gave and God took, thank God."

The police stated after Mohammed Yassin's murder that the background is criminal and the circumstances are under investigation. So far this year, 176 people have been murdered in the Arab community, compared to 193 by October 1st of last year. While this represents a decrease of 17 victims, the number remains alarming, with a murder occurring roughly every day and a half.