About two hours after a double murder in Nazareth on Wednesday evening, gunmen suspected of seeking revenge arrived at Mustafa Badra’s home.
Badra, 27, was sitting with relatives in the yard when a vehicle pulled up and two armed men got out and opened fire, according to his family. Those at the house scattered. Badra ran behind one of the rooms and, in a desperate attempt to escape, jumped several meters from a cliff.
He was injured in the fall, but the gunmen continued chasing him. They caught up with him and shot him until he died.
The killing was the third in Nazareth within roughly two hours and is suspected to have been carried out in retaliation for a double murder earlier that evening. The violence shocked Arab society after a period of relative calm and renewed concerns over an ongoing criminal dispute and struggles for control in the city.
At around 7 p.m., Noor Nafafaa, 31, and Noor Halu, 20, his relative and neighbor, were shot dead while sitting in a vehicle. The assailants fired about 20 rounds at them from close range.
Shortly after 9 p.m., Badra was killed, apparently in revenge for the earlier shooting.
His death brought the number of people murdered since the beginning of the year to 168.
Badra and his twin brother Omar were born after their parents had waited 14 years to have children. Relatives said Mustafa had planned to announce his engagement in about a week, but the expected celebration had instead “turned into deep mourning.”
His uncle, Imad Badra, said the family could not understand why Mustafa had been targeted.
Scene of the murder in Nazareth
“We never imagined we would lose the flower of the family,” he said. “Mustafa was a modest person who worked all the time with his twin brother and never hurt anyone in his life. No one understands why he was the target.”
Imad said he had been sitting with Mustafa only minutes before the attack.
“He told me, ‘There was a double murder in Nazareth.’ An hour later, he himself had been murdered, without imagining that he would be the next victim.”
His twin brother Omar described a life the two had shared almost completely.
“We always went to work together, ate, drank and played together,” he said. “I can’t process this murder, which took my soul from me. How will I sleep in the room without seeing him? How will I continue my life without him?”
Their mother said: “I was so happy when my twins were born, and today my heart is torn apart by losing him. He was a loving son, honest and active, and he always did the impossible to make me happy.”
Murder victims Noor Halu and Noor Nafafaa
Following the earlier double murder, a burning vehicle was found about 500 meters from the scene. Police suspect it was used by the shooter or shooters.
Magen David Adom received the call about the double shooting at 7:04 p.m. Medical teams who arrived at the scene found the two men inside a vehicle and pronounced them dead.
MDA paramedic and senior motorcycle unit medic Alaa al-Din Bashir said: “We saw two men inside a vehicle, unconscious, without a pulse and not breathing, with severe penetrating injuries to their bodies. We carried out medical examinations, but unfortunately there was nothing left for us to do but pronounce them dead.”
The call about Badra’s shooting was received at 9:23 p.m.
MDA medics Alaa al-Din Bashir and Khalil Kahiz said: “There was a great deal of commotion at the scene and we saw a 27-year-old man unconscious, without a pulse and not breathing, with severe gunshot wounds to his body. We carried out medical examinations, but unfortunately his injuries were critical and there was nothing left for us to do but pronounce him dead.”