‘The police don't care' Arab lives destroyed by gun violence

There has been a break in the rain, and the sun is shining on the orange groves of Bir al-Maksur, a quiet Bedouin village near Nazareth in Israel's north.

- Bethan McKernan and Quique Kierszenbaum

Three-year-old Ammar would have loved splashing in the puddles outside the Hujarat family's home, his aunt said. But two days before, the little boy was shot and killed in a playground by a stray bullet fired during a car chase.

“The police don't care what happens to Palestinians so [the gangs] know they can kill children while they are playing and nothing will happen, said Ammar's cousin, Imam, as she sat with his mother, Aisha. Numb with shock, Aisha cradled her hands in her lap, eyes red from crying.

Ammar was the first to lose his life this year to the gun violence epidemic engulfing Israel's Arab community. Last year, a record 127 people were killed. The numbers have risen year on year since 2013 as illegal firearms on the streets have proliferated. Some estimates put the number at hundreds of thousands of weapons.