Five people were killed and a six-year-old boy was wounded on Sunday in a wave of shootings and car bombings across Arab Israeli communities in central Israel, from Taibe in the north to Holon in the south. The toll includes a car bomb in Jaffa that killed a man driving his son to school and a second car bomb hours later in Holon. Police said the Jaffa device had been placed under the vehicle before the driver got in.
Police are treating the two car bombings as organized crime killings and have not assigned a political motive. The toll adds to a years-long pattern of violence in Arab Israeli communities: at least 141 Arab community members have been killed in homicides since the start of 2026, according to The Abraham Initiatives, an NGO that tracks the figures. The watchdog said last year was the deadliest year on record, with 252 Arab citizens killed, and that 2026 is on pace to surpass it.
Two Car Bombs in Five Hours on Israel’s Coast
The first explosion hit around 7:30 a.m. on Saharon Street in Jaffa, a mixed Jewish and Arab city just south of central Tel Aviv. The Israeli news site Ynet identified the dead man as Iyad Ra’ab, said to be in his 40s. Magen David Adom medics declared him dead at the scene, while his six-year-old son was taken to Wolfson Medical Center in Holon with burns to his face.
Hours later, a second car bomb detonated in Holon, a few kilometers south of Jaffa and inside the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. First responders said the driver, a man of about 30, suffered critical wounds and severe burns and was later pronounced dead, according to a second Tel Aviv-area car blast within hours that drew police and bomb-squad units to the curb. A third suspected device near Bloomfield Stadium in Jaffa was examined by the bomb squad and cleared by mid-afternoon, the Jerusalem Post reported.
The boy exited the wrecked car on his own before medics reached him. He was treated for burns to his face.
Three Shootings Before and After the Bombs
The car bombings were bracketed by three shooting deaths. The first came overnight in Taibe, a central Arab Israeli city, where Ynet identified the victim as Bakhar Nuseirat, 19. He was shot at the entrance to his home, the same spot where his cousin had previously been killed, the outlet reported. Nuseirat had been arrested in 2025 on suspicion that he hired a hitman in connection with his cousin Moatasem Nuseirat’s homicide, a land dispute, and was released due to a lack of evidence.
Mid-morning, two more men were killed by gunfire in the central Arab city of Qalansawe. Medics pronounced both victims, who were in their 40s, dead at the scene. Police did not immediately name them or assign a motive. Surveillance footage broadcast by Israeli media showed two men pull up on a motorcycle, fire into a vehicle, and ride away.
The Devices, As Police Read Them
Investigators moved quickly to describe how the Jaffa device operated. Tel Aviv District police chief Haim Sargarof told reporters at the scene that the car traveled some 100 meters before the explosion, indicating the bomb had been placed before the driver got in. Bomb experts determined that about half a kilogram of explosives was placed under the vehicle, Sargarof said. He called the bombing a very serious incident and pointed to a feud that produced a shooting in Jaffa on Thursday.
This is a very serious incident. We are aware of a feud going on in Jaffa, and on Thursday, there was an incident. We are looking at a connection. It is still not certain. All avenues are being looked into.
Tel Aviv District police chief Haim Sargarof, speaking to reporters at the scene of the Jaffa car bomb on June 28, 2026.
A senior Tel Aviv District officer told the newspaper Maariv that the Holon blast destroyed four or five other vehicles parked nearby. The officer said it was impossible to know what the bomb’s components were or how far the heavy fragments had scattered, and that the damage could have been much greater. Children were playing in a nearby lot, the officer added.
Police said both bombings were being investigated as organized crime incidents, with the Jaffa blast possibly linked to a shooting last week in which a teenage boy was killed. Sargarof said the force was checking whether Sunday’s violence was connected to that earlier attack.
Sunday’s Toll in a Three-Year Pattern
Sunday’s toll did not arrive in isolation. The Abraham Initiatives said at least 141 members of the Arab community have been killed in homicides since the start of 2026, according to a comprehensive tally of five killings within hours across Arab Israeli towns. That compares with 120 people during the same period last year. At the current pace, the watchdog said, 2026 will surpass the previous record.
Last year marked the deadliest year on record for Arab society, with 252 Arab citizens killed. The watchdog has tracked homicides in Arab society soaring to 244 in 2023, more than double the previous year’s figure, and the toll has stayed high since. Two earlier car bombings in Or Akiva and Afula, hours apart on May 26, 2026, also fit the pattern.
Haaretz, citing the toll from Sunday’s violence, ran the headline ‘166 killed in 2026,’ a figure that covers all violent deaths in the country year-to-date, not just those in Arab communities. The Abraham Initiatives’ count of 141 Arab community homicides covers only part of that total.
| Year | Arab community homicides |
|---|---|
| 2023 (full year) | 244 |
| 2025 (full year, record) | 252 |
| 2026 (year-to-date through June 28) | At least 141 |
A National Security Minister Under Fire
The pattern has put Ben Gvir, the National Security Minister who oversees Israel Police, under sustained criticism. He did not make an immediate comment on the weekend deaths. The Abraham Initiatives framed Sunday’s Jaffa bombing as a direct consequence of his ministry’s posture, in a statement carried by the Jaffa and Holon bombings investigation by the Jerusalem Post.
A father was murdered this morning when a bomb exploded while he was driving his six-year-old son to school. The child was wounded and orphaned when the father was killed. This is the reality of Israel in 2026 under [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir.
The Abraham Initiatives, a Jewish-Israeli and Palestinian-Israeli NGO that monitors violence in the Arab community.
At the Jaffa scene, Sargarof said police are looking at all avenues, including the link to last week’s teenage killing. Investigators were still on the scene in Holon, and the Magen David Adom emergency service had earlier said the Holon driver was in unstable condition before he was pronounced dead. Ben Gvir’s office did not return a request for comment on the pattern of killings.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people died in the Jaffa and Holon car bombings?
Two men were killed in the car bombings, identified by Ynet as Iyad Ra’ab in Jaffa and an unnamed driver in his 30s in Holon. The blast in Jaffa also wounded Ra’ab’s six-year-old son.
Who was Iyad Ra’ab?
Ynet identified Ra’ab as a man in his 40s who was driving his six-year-old son to school in Jaffa when a car bomb went off on Saharon Street on the morning of June 28, 2026. The Abraham Initiatives said he was killed and his son was orphaned by the blast.
Why are the bombings being treated as organized crime rather than terrorism?
Israel Police have not assigned a political motive. Tel Aviv District police chief Haim Sargarof said investigators were looking at a possible link to a shooting last week in which a teenage boy was killed in Jaffa, and described the device as a planted bomb placed under the vehicle before the driver got in.
How many Arab Israelis have been killed in 2026?
The Abraham Initiatives said at least 141 members of the Arab community had been killed in homicides since the start of 2026, compared with 120 during the same period in 2025. The watchdog said 2026 is on pace to surpass the record of 252 Arab citizens killed in 2025.
