Hamza Abu Ghanem, 25, a resident of Lod, was shot dead by unknown persons on Friday night on Ben Yehuda Street in Lod. According to reports in the city, he was shot when he was leaving the Elanur Mosque. An intensive care ambulance that arrived to remove his body was hit with rocks thrown by local Arabs.
Abu Ghanem was a senior activist in the young leadership of the northern faction of the Islamic movement, which is the more extreme of the two Muslim Brotherhood-inspired factions in Israel. After the 2021 riots, Abu Ghanem co-founded the Youth Committee in Lod which mobilized public support for Arabs who had been arrested for rioting in the city.
In addition, Abu Ghanem taught at an Islamic learning center operating near the Great Omari Mosque of Lod. The center is also affiliated with the northern faction and was involved in attempts to import to Lod the activities of an Um El Fahm northern Islamic faction youth organization.
Abu Ghanem was among those arrested in the riots last Passover Eve and was removed from the Temple Mount for seven days. Arab media announced that he received a 6-months extension of the removal order after his death.
