Ramallah: Israel's more than 1.5 million Palestinian citizens have been subject to a wave of crime and violence perpetrated by organized gangs, which has killed 104 people this year, Israeli-Arab sources told Arab News.

Israeli banks will not lend to people without construction licenses, forcing the community to turn to the black market or criminal gangs for loans, one of the contributing factors to the crippling situation facing the Israeli Palestinian community. Is. When they are unable to pay the loan on time they are subjected to violence.

It is alleged that weapons are taken from Israeli military storage facilities and given to criminals. A pistol costs between $3,000 and $6,000, while an M16 assault rifle costs around $21,000, making it a lucrative industry for unemployed teens between the ages of 16 and 18.

Also Read: 3 Palestinians are killed by the Israeli army in a West Bank raid

Arab News was informed by sources that most of those detained and charged by Israeli police are likely to be contractors rather than criminals.

According to Israeli police, seven of these gangs are active in the Arab community. Before many of these were disbanded around 2016, some of their members worked as contractors for Jewish criminal organizations. Arab gangs filled the void with thousands of weapons in their possession.

Combating organized crime in the neighborhood is severely hampered by Israeli Palestinians' distrust of the Israeli police. While the police accuse them of not cooperating in the fight against crime, they feel that the police do not adequately address crime in Arab areas.

According to Arabs, if they report criminals, the police will not defend them, as there will be retaliation. They claim that police confiscate weapons but fail to detain suspects, and that even when they do detain some of them, they do not prosecute them.

Israeli police claim they need evidence to prosecute suspects, but this is challenging given a lack of police personnel, funding, or sufficient technology used by the Shin Bet. As a result, the Shin Bet has been called upon to assist the police, but there is strong objection to the Shin Bet interfering in domestic affairs.

According to Jalal Bana, a strategic expert from Kufr Yasif in the Galilee, widespread poverty in Arab society is a contributing factor to the rise of crime and the recruitment of many youths into criminal gangs.

Also Read: Japan's Cabinet Approves Bill Tightening Religious Donation Regulations

"A crime that has been happening on a large scale for many years cannot be eradicated within a year or two," he said. When the crime in the Arab community was transferred to the Jewish community, it turned into a strategic threat against it and the Israeli police began to combat it.

He claimed that the police could significantly reduce crime if they wanted to, as they had done between 1999 and 2001 by successfully dismantling the organized crime gangs of the Jewish community.

Arab News was informed by Arab-Israeli sources that many of those responsible for crimes against Arabs have fled to Turkey and the UAE for fear of being caught.

With drug and arms trade, extortion, and mayors being forced to award contracts to those supporting organized crime gangs, Bana described the situation as "pretty dire".

According to Mahmoud Khatib, a writer and lecturer from the Galilee village of Kafr Kanna, the death toll this year has exceeded 100, indicating that police efforts to fight crime have been ineffective.

According to Khatib, it is necessary to intensify policing efforts, create preventive laws, and advance national and religious values within the Arab community.

According to him, 1.5 million Arabs live in constant fear and terror instead of security. "The loss of safety and security saddens us more than the number of people killed by the crime," he said.

Despite the Israeli government's pledge to combat violence and illegal weapons and plans to build more police stations, there has been no reduction in criminal activity.

The Israeli police recently created a special unit called SAF (Sword) to address this issue. This 32,000-person force is actively seeking to add 5,000 more members. They also demand more money and better equipment to deal with criminal gangs.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, the newly appointed Minister of National Security, announced that he would resolutely combat crime and violence in the Arab community. However, according to the Israeli-Arab, this will not matter because "Ben-Gvir presents problems, not solutions, and all his answers are based on violence."

Separately, Ben-Gvir claimed that in order to join the coalition of the new government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, he had made it necessary that the status quo of the Al-Aqsa Mosque be changed to allow Jews to pray there. To be given

Jewish prayer is not permitted in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, but Israeli police allow it outside the Al-Kibli Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.

We are constantly on the lookout for any surprises that Ben-Gvir or any other irrational figure may spring, according to Ekrima Sabri, the grand mufti of Jerusalem and preacher at Al-Aqsa Mosque..

Also Read: 'Ambedkar also used to say nothing will happen without religion': Mohan Bhagwat

 We uphold the legitimate right of Muslims to offer solitary prayers at Al-Aqsa, and we view Ben-remarks Gvir's as hostile toward Muslims. We will stop Jews from praying in Al-Aqsa Mosque and its courtyards under all circumstances and at any cost," Sabri emphasised.