Police Investigate Murder Of A Manar Hajaj & Her Daughter In Lod

A Mother & Daughter Gunned Down Amidst Out-Of-Control Crime In Arab Communities

Details
The Judean Staff
National

Honor killings, particularly in Arab communities, combined with other criminal activity have become a stain on Israeli society, and a poor reflection on the Arab community that lives within the country. The Israeli police are having a hard time maintaining order in many Israeli-Arab neighborhoods, with the latest example happening last week. Two women, Manar Hajaj (34) and her 14-year-old daughter Hadera were shot dead Monday night beneath their residential building when they returned from shopping at the supermarket in the city of Lod.

The twin sister of the murdered girl, Miriam, was taken to Assaf Harofeh Hospital with a gunshot wound to her leg. There are no suspects yet according to Israeli police sources. At the same time as the deadly shooting, in the Arab village of Taiba, a gunman attacked an ambulance that was trying to evacuate a man who had been shot - and kidnapped the wounded man.

According to an eyewitness to the shooting in Lod, Manar and her daughters who were ninth-grade students in the mixed Arab and Jewish city, had just returned from shopping at the supermarket and their car engine was still on after the murder. One of the neighbors said that she heard the shots from a distance - and ran to the scene. "I saw a medic doing CPR and I helped him with the flashlight of my phone, so he could see what he was doing," she said. "One of the twins had just put the bags by the elevator, returned to the car - and saw that her mother and sister were being shot - and ran away while the assassin shot her in the leg." The eyewitness' name is being withheld out of fear of reprisals.

Another neighbor, whose name has not been cleared for publication, said that the shooting happened from point-blank range. "We heard shots and the girl was screaming in pain." She continued, "We went downstairs and saw them when two of them had already lost consciousness." Another neighbor claimed that the mother a kind woman. "She was a good woman with a degree in education and in the middle of studying for her master's degree," she said. These are her only two daughters. It's scary how many murders have happened in the city."

It is possible that the shooting is related to the girls' father however, this is only a preliminary assessment. The Commander of the Central District Police, Superintendent Avi Biton, said at the scene that the police had no prior intelligence about conflicts related to domestic violence. "It's a very serious incident and we're going to treat it carefully," Superintendent Bitton said. "Apparently this is a criminal incident between gangs, but this is only the initial information. We are gathering more information and forming an up-to-date picture of the situation and will make operational decisions on the matter."

At the end of the situation assessment, District Commander Bitton stated that this was the most serious murder case that has happened in the district and that it would be investigated as a top priority. The investigation was assigned to the unit for combating crime in the 'Shfela' region. In addition, Bitton directed an increased deployment of forces in the city of Lod, while intensifying targeted enforcement against any perpetrators of crime.

It has been further reported that the daughter of the slain mother who was left wounded did not attend the funeral, due to fears of remaining threats.

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