Police (illustration)
Police (illustration)Israel news photo: Flash 90

Three residents of the northern Arab village of Tuba Zangariya were injured Sunday in a family feud involving gunfire and an intentional car collision. Seven people have been arrested and more arrests are expected.

The incident began when to youths aged 16 and 17 on an all terrain vehicle (ATV) drove behind another vehicle inside the village and began firing in the air over the vehicle's roof. The driver turned the car around. He was joined by another vehicle, and the two vehicles then gave chase to the ATV. They eventually crashed into it, injuring the youths.

The youths were evacuated to Ziv Hospital in Tzfat in light to moderate condition, where they were placed under arrest.

The two drivers who chased down the youths are residents of the village aged 24 and 18. They, too, were arrested and taken to interrogation.

Police arrived on the scene and began collecting evidence when more gunfire broke out. Shots were fired from several locations, some of them aimed at homes and some fired into the air. As a result of this gunfire, a 33-year-old resident of the village suffered moderate to serious wounds. He, too, was evacuated to Ziv Hospital.

Police combed the village and arrested three suspects in their 20s. All of them were to be arraigned in a Kiryat Shmona court Monday morning. 

Tuba Zangariya was the scene of an arson attack on a mosque in March of 2011. The suspicion immediately fell upon Jews and dozens of Jewish leaders, including the Prime Minister and top rabbis, voiced sorrow and condemnation over the attack. President Shimon Peres visited the village, as did the two Chief Rabbis.

It later turned out that the attack was most likely carried out by local Arabs who knew Jewish media and politicians, their minds numbed by decades of leftist subversion, would fall for the ruse and blame Jews.