Kuseife Shooting Kills Man, Ends 20-Day Lull in Arab-Society Murders

One man was shot near Kuseife in the Negev shortly before midnight Thursday and later died at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba. Police from the Ar'ara station opened an investigation, collected evidence and began searching for suspects; an initial assessment cited a criminal background. The killing was the first recorded in Israel's Arab community after a 20-day lull and brought the community's 2026 homicide toll to 155. Reports differed on the surviving wounded, with three sources listing one lightly injured man while one report listed two.