nine men were killed today in a shooting in a Nazareth suburb, amid mounting criticism of the Netanyahu government’s failure to crack down on crime in Israel’s Arab-dominated areas.

According to the Red Star of David (also the equivalent Red Cross in Israel), the five men succumbed to their injuries shortly after being taken to a hospital.

The Israeli police said that their strong forces were deployed in the area to search for the perpetrators of the attack, underlining that they believe it is a settling of accounts between rival gangs.

In a video released on social media platforms, a car can be seen engulfed in flames after the shooting incident.

A few hours earlier, in another suburb of Nazareth, a 30-year-old man and a three-year-old girl were wounded by gunfire.

Crime rates in Arab communities in Israel are well above the average for the rest of the country.

According to data from the non-governmental organization Abraham Initiatives, since the beginning of the year, 97 members of the Arab minority in Israel have fallen victim to the increasing crime. Of these, 42 were under 30 years old.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was “shocked” by the brutal crime, as two Arab opposition MPs called on him to fire National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.