Israeli police accused of negligence as strike paralyses Arab cities

JERUSALEM – A general strike swept Palestinian cities and towns inside Israel on Thursday, as communities shut businesses, schools and public institutions in protest at spiralling violent crime and what they describe as persistent police failure to confront it.

The one-day strike was called by the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel, the main representative body of Palestinian citizens, together with the National Committee of Heads of Arab Local Authorities. Shops, schools and municipal offices across Palestinian communities inside the so-called Green Line, areas occupied by Israel in 1948,  remained closed throughout the day.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Jamal Zahalka, head of the Higher Follow-Up Committee, urged Palestinians to “fully commit to the strike and head to the city of Sakhnin to take part in the major demonstration … in defence of our right to life.”

The strike comes amid mounting anger over a sharp rise in violent crime within Palestinian communities inside Israel, where hundreds have been killed in recent years, largely in shootings. Many community leaders accuse the police of neglect and lack of seriousness in tackling the spread of illegal weapons and organised crime, while some reports have gone further, alleging tacit complicity by Israeli security agencies, claims the authorities deny.

Protests have intensified in recent weeks. On January 21, hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated outside the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, accusing the government of failing to curb the violence. According to the Hebrew-language newspaper Maariv, violence in Palestinian society inside Israel has reached unprecedented levels, with 16 Palestinians killed since the start of 2026, 12 of them by gunfire.

The toll was far higher last year. In 2025, 252 Palestinians were killed, an increase of around 10 percent compared with 2024, when 230 people lost their lives, according to figures cited at the time by Israel’s Channel 12. Palestinian politicians and civil society groups say repeated warnings and appeals have been ignored, allowing criminal networks to flourish.

Palestinian citizens of Israel, who hold Israeli identity cards, make up around 21 percent of the country’s population of more than 10 million. They have long complained of systemic discrimination, underinvestment and marginalisation, particularly in policing, housing and public services.

Criticism of the police has been a recurring theme among Palestinian lawmakers in the Knesset, who argue that the authorities respond swiftly and forcefully to crime in Jewish areas, while showing indifference when violence strikes Arab towns.

The strike also unfolded against the backdrop of the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with many Palestinians linking the violence inside Israel to what they describe as a broader campaign against Palestinians wherever they live.

Since Israel launched its war on Gaza on October 8, 2023, Palestinian officials say more than 71,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 171,000 wounded in the enclave, most of them women and children, figures cited by Palestinian authorities and humanitarian organisations.

In the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 1,107 Palestinians since the start of the Gaza war, according to Palestinian sources, while nearly 11,000 have been injured and more than 21,000 arrested.

Israel was established in 1948 following the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the conflict surrounding its creation, a history that continues to shape tensions today. Palestinian leaders inside Israel say the fight against crime in their communities cannot be separated from longstanding grievances over inequality, political exclusion and the absence of accountability.

As demonstrators gathered in Sakhnin and other towns, organisers said the strike was intended not only as a protest, but as a warning that the crisis has reached a breaking point. Without decisive action, they cautioned, the loss of life in Palestinian communities inside Israel will continue unabated.