A volley of gunshots was fired overnight Wednesday at the home of Ynet Arab affairs reporter Hassan Shaalan. Two masked men fired the shots at Shaalan's home in Tayibe and his car both of which were damaged. Neither Shaalan nor his wife and children, who were home at the time of the attack, were wounded.
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The Israel Police have launched an investigation into the shooting and have begun collecting eyewitness reports and physical evidence. A police official told Israel Hayom that all angles were being investigated, including the possibility that Shaalan's home and family had been targeted because of his work covering Arab society in Israel.
Shaalan told police that shortly before the shots were fired, the suspects had asked where his house was, and said that while they were firing they had called him out by his name, and cursed him.
Shaalan told some of his associates that the incident had been "very scary."
"The bullet missed my young son's head by inches. I was never involved in any conflict with anyone I do my work as a journalist and am not afraid to criticize what is happening in terms of crime in Arab society. Some people are trying to shut us up, and that won't happen," he said.
Chairman of the Joint Arab List MK Ayman Odeh wrote that "After a decade of police and government neglect, crime organization are unafraid of consequences, and these are the results – shots fired at journalists and local government representatives, hundreds of civilians dead, and families torn apart."
Yair Tarchitsky, chairman of the Union of Journalists in Israel Yair Tarchitsky issued a statement in response to the incident: "This is a horrifying incident that crosses every red line, and marks another level of violence toward journalists."
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