Jadeidi-Makr council head Suheil Malham and his deputy were shot after leaving a wedding; police say gunman fled on scooter as officers search for suspects
The head of the Jadeidi-Makr Regional Council, Suheil Malham, 50, was seriously wounded overnight Sunday in a shooting within the council’s jurisdiction. His 49-year-old deputy was moderately wounded in the same incident.
Police opened an investigation, collected evidence at the scene and launched a manhunt for suspects in the shooting.
The two men had just left a wedding when the gunman arrived on a scooter, first shooting the deputy and then Malham before fleeing. The two were standing several meters apart at the time.
Magen David Adom said the report of the shooting was received at 12:21 a.m. by its 101 emergency dispatch center in the Asher region. Paramedics evacuated both men to Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya. The hospital said they were suffering from limb injuries.
MDA paramedic Hareth Kulaib said: “We saw a 49-year-old man who had been wounded by gunfire and was conscious. We provided lifesaving medical treatment and evacuated him to the hospital in moderate condition. Another wounded man, in his 50s, was evacuated from the scene while conscious and suffering from serious gunshot wounds.”
This is not the first time Malham has been connected to a shooting incident. On December 10, 2019, his security guard was seriously wounded after gunmen opened fire at the council head’s home.
After that incident, Malham told the ynet studio: “I think the attack on the security guard was an attack on me. There was intent to harm someone here, though I’m not sure who.” Police later said there was apparently no connection between the shooting and the council head.
The incident also follows a series of attacks on Arab local authority heads amid rampant crime in Arab communities — attacks viewed as strikes against symbols of government authority and which often lead to Shin Bet involvement in investigations.
In March, Arraba Mayor Ahmad Nassar was seriously wounded after being shot seven times at point-blank range in an attack captured on camera. Indictments were later filed against the alleged shooter and the man accused of sending him, a relative of the mayor.
Investigators from the Northern District’s central unit said the background to that shooting was linked to municipal garbage collection tenders and repeated changes by the municipality to the company handling waste removal. Two garbage trucks had also been set on fire in connection with the dispute.