![An Israeli soldier aims his gun as Palestinians stage a demonstration to protest the metal detectors installed by Israeli authorities on Al-Aqsa Mosque in Bethlehem, West Bank on 21 July 2017 [Mamoun Wazwaz/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/2017_7_21-Protest-in-Bethlehem20170721_2_24874764_24338711.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
A Palestinian Arab Israeli citizen was shot dead last night outside a mosque in the town of Taybeh. Sanad Masarwah, 30, was shot along with another Palestinian in his 20s, who was wounded, eyewitnesses told the Times of Israel.
Medics were called to the scene and rushed the injured pair to Meir Medical Centre in nearby Kfar Saba. Doctors there pronounced Masarwah dead.
An investigation into the shooting is ongoing, claim the Israeli authorities. However, they have yet to make any arrests.
According to Arab48, the incident took place hours after another shooting in the same town in which a Palestinian was hit in the abdomen.
READ: Israel army adopts lenient policy for shooting at Palestinians
So far this year, 97 Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel have been murdered. According to a Haaretz count conducted earlier this month, there has been a decrease in the homicide rate in the Arab Israeli community so far this year.
Arab Israeli citizens face systematic discrimination and complain of being treated as second-class citizens when compared with their Jewish counterparts. They make up around 20 per cent of Israel’s population and are centred in a group of Arab towns in central Israel known as the “Little Triangle”, as well as the Galilee and Negev regions.
Numerous human rights groups decry Israeli policies against Arabs as a form of modern-day apartheid. They suffer from anti-Arab racial discrimination in education, work and healthcare.