Police Commissioner Yaakov 'Kobi' Shabtai held a situational assessment this evening (Wednesday) in the Bedouin Arab town of Basmat Tab'un after five members of the same family were murdered there.
"A red line has been crossed here. Those who committed this murder are terrorists, for us, it is the same as a terrorist attack. The police will not rest until we get the murderers," Shabtai said.
The five family members, four men and one woman, were shot to death in their own home. Another 49-year-old man was taken to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa in moderate condition.
The shocking mass murder brings the number of people killed in intra-Arab violence in Israel this year to 186.
The investigation of the shooting revealed that two masked suspects entered the family home, opened in all directions, and hit all the occupants of the house. The suspects fled towards the nearby cemetery, and significant police forces were deployed to search for them.