Woman Killed, Three Hurt as Grenade Thrown at Pastry Shop in Northern Town of Kafr Manda

A woman in her fifties was killed and three other people were wounded on Saturday when a grenade was thrown at a pastry shop in the northern town of Kafr Manda, police and the Magen David Adom ambulance service said.

The woman was rushed in critical condition to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, where she later died of her wounds. She was identified as Lina Qassem Zidan, a resident of Daliyat al-Karmel. According to the account given of the incident, Zidan was purchasing goods inside the shop when the grenade exploded.

The three other people hurt in the blast, one of them Zidan's husband, were taken to local hospitals for treatment. Two of them were in moderate condition, while the third was lightly injured.

Police said shortly after the attack that officers had arrested three suspects and had captured the vehicle the assailants allegedly used. The force added that Police Commissioner Daniel Levy went to the scene in Kafr Manda, accompanied by other top brass.

The Abraham Initiatives, a group that tracks killings in the Arab community, said Zidan was the 200th Arab killed in a criminal incident in Israel since the start of the year. She was also the 14th woman on that list.

According to the coexistence watchdog, last year was the bloodiest on record for the community, with 252 victims. Those killings accounted for more than 80 percent of all homicides in Israel, even though Arab citizens make up roughly 20 percent of the country's population.

The group has recorded an approximate doubling in annual homicide rates in Arab society since National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir took office in late 2022. It has accused Ben Gvir of neglecting the skyrocketing homicides in Arab society and of gutting programs meant to confront the crime wave.

Ben Gvir and his party have pushed back against that criticism, defending what they describe as increased police action.