Members of the search and rescue team are examining the debris of a damaged building in the city of Tamra, in northern Israel, following an Iranian missile attack on June 15, 2025, in which four people, including a child, were killed. (Credit: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)
Ayman Odeh, an Israeli MP of Palestinian origin, criticized the government for failing to provide adequate shelters in Arab communities, after an Iranian missile attack killed four people in the northern city of Tamra, an Arab city in northern Israel.
"The state continues to differentiate between the blood of some and others," Odeh criticized during a visit to this Arab city of 37,000 inhabitants.
A three-story house was destroyed by explosions early Sunday after missile strikes from Iran, in response to the Israeli offensive since Friday on its military and nuclear infrastructure.
"Four civilians were killed yesterday: Manar al-Qassem Abou al-Hija Khatib [39 years old], her two daughters Hala [13 years old] and Shada [20 years old], as well as Manar Diab Khatib [41 years old]," a family member stated, according to Odeh on the social network X.
In Tamra, cars and homes were destroyed, a journalist from AFP observed.
"Tamra is not a village, it is ... a city without public shelters," said Odeh, adding that this was the case for more than 60 percent of "local councils," an Israeli term for municipalities not officially registered as cities, many of which are Arab localities.
He lamented the "negligence" by public authorities that led to a lack of protection shelters against air attacks for the Israeli Arab population.
As Israel and Iran are engaged in the most intense confrontation in their history, Odeh warned against "an unprecedented threat [that] will not distinguish" between Arabs and Jews.
Sparking controversy, a video circulated on social media at night appeared to show a family rejoicing in Hebrew as Iranian missiles fell on Tamra.
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned these "joyful cries" in a statement, saying "rockets do not distinguish, hitting both Jews and Arabs."
In some Arab neighborhoods, missile strikes on Israel are sometimes met with joyful cries, a journalist from Agence France-Presse noted.
After the creation of Israel in 1948, Palestinians who remained in what became Israel became "Israeli Arab" citizens, although many define themselves as Palestinians.
They represent about 20 percent of the population and frequently report being victims of discrimination compared to the Jewish majority.
This article was translated from French AFP