A 16-year-old boy was murdered this evening (Wednesday) and three other people were seriously injured by gunfire from a passing motorcycle on Route 65, near Kibbutz Gan Shmuel in northern Israel.
Magen David Adom (MDA) medics and paramedics who were called to the scene pronounced the boy dead. The targets of the assassination were two of the wounded, a father and his son. The wounded were taken to Hillel Yaffe Hospital in Hadera.
In documentation from the scene, the motorcyclist is seen following closely the car in which the four were traveling at a traffic light and opening fire near dozens of cars.
Two of the injured, a father (51) and his son (27) from Or Akiva, were convicted in 2019 as part of a plea deal for manslaughter over a death at a wedding in Pardes Hanna.
Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai arrived at the scene of the shooting and said: "A motorcyclist shot the occupants of the vehicle, they are all known to the police, two of whom were released about a year ago, in the not-so-distant past the Israel Police thwarted an attempted murder of some of the occupants of the vehicle and unfortunately this attempt was successful."
Shabtai added that another deadly shooting earlier in the day in Jaljuliya "is still under investigation."
The commissioner stated that the police have been engaged in an operation against organized crime. "As part of our fight against the issue of crime and violence in general and in Arab society, we will continue to carry out offensive activity and will use all the tools that are at our disposal in order to get our hands on those who commit these crimes, those who harm the residents' sense of security. Since the beginning of the year, we have thwarted nearly 50 murders. We will continue to do everything we can."