Israeli soccer player Obeida Khatab turned himself into police and was arrested on Monday evening, taking responsibility for a deadly hit-and-run accident that happened three hours earlier.
Khatab, 22, who plays soccer in the Israeli Premier League for the Hapoel Tel Aviv team, was remanded in custody until Thursday after the judge at the Nazareth District Court ruled that releasing him would pose a threat to the public and to witnesses, and could obstruct the investigation.
The late-afternoon accident took on Route 79 near the Ilut Junction outside Nazareth.
Khatab is suspected of crashing into 39-year-old Naif Ashakar from the village of Reineh near Nazareth, who was returning from work at the time.
As Ashakar lay sprawled on the ground Khatab allegedly fled the scene.
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Magen David Adom emergency teams evacuated a critically injured Ashakar to the Emek Medical Center in Afula, where he was declared dead.
The Hebrew-language Walla news website reported that because of his arrest, Khatab did not show up for his team’s training session on Tuesday morning.
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