Nabil Safiya’s killing shook Kafr Yasif, a northern town of about 10,000, where residents said the sound of gunfire has become part of daily life. The teenager was shot while he was meeting a cousin at a pizza parlor, after taking a break from studying for a biology exam. Police later said the motorcycle shooting was a case of mistaken identity, but the attack still stunned his hometown and renewed pressure for more security and tougher enforcement.
Nabil’s father, Ashraf Safiya, described a reality in which gunfire can reach people in places they believe are safe, including school, the street and even sports events. He said there is “no set time for the gunfire anymore,” adding, “They can kill you in school, they can kill you in the street, they can kill you in the football stadium.” After the shooting, Ashraf Safiya raced to the scene and said doctors pronounced his son dead.
The protests took on a broader national shape as Arab communities demanded action on violence that activists say has fanned out across Palestinian towns and mixed cities. Activists have long accused authorities of failing to address the issue, and they said the situation has deepened under Israel’s current far-right government. One political activist, Ghassan Munayyer of Lod, described the divide he says Palestinians experience in policing and prosecution, saying: “There’s a law for the Jewish society and a different law for Palestinian society.”
As protests spread, demonstrations also highlighted what organizers called a justice gap. Abraham Initiatives, an Israeli nongovernmental organization that promotes coexistence and safer communities, said it recorded a record 252 Palestinian citizens killed in Israel in 2025, and it said at least 26 additional crime-related killings occurred in January. The organization also said that last year, only 8% of killings of Palestinian citizens led to charges filed against suspects, compared with 55% in Jewish communities.
Criminologist Walid Haddad, who teaches at Ono Academic College and previously worked in Israel’s national security ministry, said organized crime has flourished through weapons trafficking and loan-sharking in areas where residents lack access to credit. Haddad said gangs also extort business owners and residents for “protection,” and he described how gang members can earn from “thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars,” depending on assignments that include torching cars, shooting at buildings or assassinating rival leaders.
The Abraham Initiatives director of shared cities and regions, Lama Yassin, said strained relations with police discouraged Palestinian citizens from seeking more officers or police stations. She said the shift has come as communities grew more frustrated with daily life and with violence that activists say authorities have treated as a lower priority. “In recent years, because people are so depressed and feel like they’re not able to practice day-to-day life … Arabs are saying, ‘Do whatever it takes, even if it means more police in our towns,’” Yassin said.
Political leaders and demonstrators said the violence has become a rallying issue for Palestinian-led parties as governments pledged to curb bloodshed with limited results. Knesset member Aida Touma-Suleiman said police in Palestinian communities resemble “collective punishment,” describing how, in instances where Jews are victims of violence, police often set up roadblocks in neighboring Palestinian towns and arrest suspects en masse. She said, “The only side that can be able to smash a mafia is the state and the state is doing nothing except letting (organized crime) understand that they are free to do whatever they want.”
Israeli police have rejected the allegations of skewed priorities. They said killings in Palestinian communities are a top priority, and they added that investigations are challenging when witnesses do not always cooperate. In a statement, police said: “Investigative decisions are guided by evidence, operational considerations, and due process, not by indifference or lack of prioritization.”
In Kafr Yasif, residents said outrage over violence has not translated into an end to killings. Authorities said last month they were preparing to file an indictment against a 23-year-old arrested in a neighboring town related to the Nabil Safiya shooting, and they said the intended target was a relative, referring to the cousin Nabil met that night. Residents said a late January demonstration in Kafr Yasif—during which marchers carried portraits of Nabil Safiya and another local boy, Nidal Mosaedah—was broken up by police, who said it lasted longer than authorized and arrested its leaders, including the former head of the town council.
For Safiya’s family, the shooting has become part of a fight against what they see as a cycle of impunity. Safiya told reporters about organizing protests and said, “The idea was that the blood of this boy would not be wasted.” He added, “If people stop caring about these cases, we’re going to just have another case and another case.” Hazboun reported from Jerusalem.