Dubai police say they have arrested several Israeli citizens for the murder of Gassan Shamsiyah, A 32-year-old Israeli man from Acre who was stabbed in the city on Wednesday.
“Dubai Police said it has arrested a number of Israeli nationals after they assaulted and caused the death of another Israeli national,” the Dubai Media Office said.
“The accused will be referred to the Dubai Public Prosecution for further legal proceedings,” it added, without providing additional details.
According to Mako, local police arrested eight Israelis, several of which were known to the Israeli police, for the murder of Shamsiyah, who had already survived three assassination attempts.
Local investigators took security footage from the scene to find the perpetrators. The investigation found that a fight broke out in a restaurant where the victim sat with friends, not far from his rivals from an Acre crime family. The Dubai Police Department is expected to seek assistance from the Israeli police to find those connected to the murder and to learn about their criminal pasts.
Mako cited a senior police official who said this is the first time a murder between criminals has been committed in a friendly Arab country. “In the past, there were assassination attempts in Morocco and Egypt, but the assassins got cold feet and were afraid of being caught and sentenced to death. Criminals know that there are security cameras all over the country, and they can sit in prison for a long time or even receive the death penalty.” According to the report, a few hundred Israeli criminals, Arabs and Jews, reside in Dubai.