Dozens protest in Negev over fatal shooting of Bedouin man

Around a hundred demonstrators, mostly from the Bedouin village of Bir Hadaj, are protesting over the killing last week of 22-year-old Ayoub al-Toukhi by an armed civilian in a vehicle with a soldier, near the Egyptian border.

The protesters, gathered at the Bir Asluj intersection in the Negev, hold posters displaying the faces of six men from the town who have been killed over the past four years in what they characterize as extrajudicial killings.

6 תושבי ביר הדאג׳ נרצחו מאז 2022 על ידי יהודים. pic.twitter.com/XBNoASFa0t

— חד״ש Hadash (@Hadash_org) January 1, 2026

Al-Toukhi’s suspected killer was released Sunday to house arrest with restrictions by a judge in the Beersheba Magistrate’s Court.

He reportedly works in a defense company that deals in drones and had been accompanying IDF troops during a drill at the border last week.

That night, as he was driving back from the exercise in his jeep, accompanied by a soldier, the pair encountered al-Toukhi and his cousin, Muhammad, driving north on Route 211.

Under the impression that the pair were running guns across the Egyptian border, the soldier — who was driving the jeep — began pursuing the pair of Bedouin men.

They slowed down next to the car, which is when al-Toukhi began driving off-road. According to Muhammad, who recounted the incident to Haaretz, his cousin’s driver’s license had expired, and he was afraid of getting in trouble for traffic violations.

The pair did not realize they were being ordered to stop, as the vehicle from which shots were fired was a civilian vehicle and its occupants were dressed in civilian clothing.

The civilian then opened fire at the tires of al-Toukhi’s vehicle, using both his personal weapon and the soldier’s firearm, causing the vehicle to veer off course.

Despite initial reports that the cousins had been involved in arms trafficking, Muhammad was released without a court hearing because no evidence was found linking him to the purported offense, Haaretz reports.

Lawyers for Muhammad told the newspaper that he denies any involvement in smuggling.

Speaking at the protest, MK Walid Alhawashla from the Islamist Ra’am party says that the cousins posed no danger to anyone and “are not suspected of anything. The shooting was carried out without cause by a civilian who took the law into his own hands.”

“This was a criminal incident that led to the unnecessary death of an innocent civilian, and it must not be allowed to pass without consequence,” Alhawashla adds, calling on the police to investigate the incident and bring the shooter to justice.