An Israel Police volunteer was killed and an officer was wounded after being rammed by a car in Nahariya on Tuesday morning, and three people were shot to death and at least five were injured in a slew of bloody incidents over the last two days.
The Nahariya incident began when a police patrol car arrived at a construction site after receiving a complaint about excessive noise at the construction site. Police officers at the scene learned that the municipality was conducting infrastructure works in order to avoid winter flooding, but that the work was only supposed to be done on work days.
After the police officers began to speak to the construction manager at the site, the manager punched one of the policemen, and then a car rammed into an officer and volunteer and ran over them a number of times, severely injuring them, according to a police officer at the scene.
The two were rushed to the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya in serious condition, police said.
The volunteer, 32-year-old Hussam Sajayir of the Druze village of Yarka, died soon after as a result of his injuries sustained in the attack. Sajayir was an Israel Police volunteer since 2016. The injured policeman is 41-year-old Amir Abu Rish, also of Yarka.
This is Abu Rish’s third injury as a policeman, his father told Ynet news. He sustained injuries to his hip, chest, head and leg, his father said.
Police arrested and interrogated a 44-year-old resident of Arrabe, a town near Sakhnin, soon after the incident.
Hours later, police arrested two people close to Hemed junction near Jerusalem for suspected involvement in the incident. The two were residing in Israel illegally and were traveling with nine other illegal residents. They were arrested after police put up blockades on Highway One, causing heavy traffic jams leading up to Jerusalem
“At the end of an extensive police operation including dozens of cops and a police helicopter, a short time ago [police] located 11 residents of the West Bank who were residing in Israel illegally and some of whom are suspected of being involved in the ramming incident involving a policeman and a police volunteer this morning,” the Police Spokesperson said.
The 11 people are residents of Yata, a town south of Hebron.
The police are not treating the incident as a terrorist attack.
מבקש לשלוח תנחומים למשפחתו של סמ"ר חוסאם סג׳ייר שנרצח בעת מילוי משימתו כמתנדב במשטרה. בחירתו להתנדב, מצביעה יותר מכל על אופיו ועל האובדן. אני מאחל גם רפואה שלמה לשוטר אמיר אבו ריש שנפגע באירוע.
— בני גנץ - Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) September 21, 2021
Police Chief Kobi Shabtai and OC Hof (Beach) Region Asst.-Ch. Yoram Sofer came to the crime scene and later visited the injured policeman at Galilee Medical Center and told reporters the Shin Bet are involved in the investigation of the incident.
“The Israel Police bows its head and joins in the sorrow of the family of Sgt. Hussam Sagayir, a heroic volunteer who today became a model of diligence and contribution to the country,” Shabtai said.
“This is an event that began as a classic policing incident and ended with a volunteer losing his life and a policeman moderately wounded. This stresses how the work of policemen and volunteers can become an emergency in the blink of an eye, from another routine shift to a life-threatening event,” he said.
“This is a dangerous uptick in the lack of cooperation and the violence that police are exposed to. This is a warning sign that should have us all worried,” he added.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz also sent his condolences to the Sajayir family and wished Abu-Rish a speedy recovery.
The incident came after three deadly shootings occurred over the holiday, leaving three dead and at least five injured.
Masoudin al-Azazme, a 30-year-old man from the Bedouin community, was found dead on Tuesday afternoon after being shot in his car near the Ramat Hovav junction in the Negev, Israel Police said.
Earlier on Tuesday, 24-year-old Fadi Grifat of Zarzir was found dead in his car. Police said a person was probably waiting in ambush and escaped immediately after the shooting. The incident is likely related to gang violence, police said.
On Monday, 25-year-old Ala’a Sarsour was killed and five were injured, one seriously, at a shooting during a wedding in Taibe. Police announced on Tuesday afternoon that they had arrested a 22-year-old suspect who was hiding in a deserted building in the town.