Off-duty Israeli soldier shoots dead Palestinian citizen over road dispute
An off-duty Israeli soldier shot dead a Palestinian citizen of Israel following a road dispute near Haifa on Thursday, according to local media.
The victim, Sharif Hadid, 27, was shot while travelling on Highway 6 in northern Israel.
The Arab48 news outlet reported that he was taken to a hospital in Haifa, where he was pronounced dead after attempts to save his life failed.
Reports said the shooting followed an argument between him and an off-duty Israeli soldier.
Police arrested the suspect on suspicion of murder, along with his brother, who is being investigated for conspiracy to commit a crime, according to the Israeli outlet Walla.
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The Israeli army confirmed that an off-duty soldier shot the victim.
A joint investigation by military and civilian police has been launched into the incident, the army said.
The incident came as police shot and killed another Palestinian citizen of Israel in the town of Ibtin near Haifa.
Family of Sham Shami, 29, said undercover police ran into him with a car, got out and shot him at point-blank.
They rejected the police version of events, which claimed that Shami was an “armed suspect”.
According to the Times of Israel, the police internal investigations department is reviewing the killing, though no official investigation has yet been opened.
This is the second killing of a Palestinian citizen of Israel by police in a week.
On Sunday, officers shot Mohammed Hussein al-Tarabin, a father of six, after he opened his door during an arrest raid in Tirabin al-Sana. His family said he was killed “in cold blood”.
Police initially claimed Tarabin had “endangered officers during the operation” and was shot as a result. An internal investigation has been launched into the incident.
Violence by Israeli police against Palestinian citizens of Israel is not new. In 2025, at least 13 Palestinians were killed by security forces for alleged involvement in violence or possession of weapons.
Palestinian citizens of Israel are the descendants of the native residents of Palestine who were not expelled during the 1948 Nakba, when Zionist gangs expelled most Palestinians from their homeland to create the state of Israel.
Although formally citizens of Israel, they continue to face inequality, discrimination and repression.
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