Four police officers lightly wounded in Rahat car chase

Four police officers have been lightly injured in a car chase in Rahat, apparently after rushing to the scene of a mass brawl between two warring families in the Bedouin city.

Police say the officers encountered a suspicious vehicle during an operation to stamp out violent disputes between rival families.

Attempting to flee law enforcement, the driver struck a police car and injured those inside, police say. Cops then chased down the vehicle and shot at it until it came to a halt. The driver, a man in his 20s, was detained for questioning.

The four injured officers were taken to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba for further treatment.

Footage from the scene that was filmed from a distance shows men running toward a stopped car near a traffic circle in the southern city, after several gunshots are heard.

Rahat has seen a surge of violence which has claimed two lives this past month, mainly due to blood feuds between warring families in the city.

♦️ דיווח ראשוני: 4 שוטרים נפצעו במרדף אחרי עבריינים בעיר רהט תוך חילופי ירי.

על פי המידע הראשוני, ניידת משטרה הייתה מעורבת בתאונת דרכים במהלך המרדף שכלל חילוף יריות בין שוטרים לעבריינים חמושים במקום. pic.twitter.com/fGotk4Hdx8

— Asslan Khalil (@KhalilAsslan) October 16, 2025

Police in the city have tried to crack down on the phenomenon, but lack the personnel and technological resources to do so, Rahat’s mayor told the Times of Israel earlier this month.

On Wednesday, a 27-year-old doctor at Soroka Medical Center died of his wounds after gunmen opened fire on him earlier this month, as part of a longstanding feud that has claimed four lives, including his, since 2013. Officers arrested five suspects shortly after the ambush.

Earlier in October, a 21-year-old pharmaceutical student named Adam al-Ubra was fatally shot in a revenge killing. He had been on a break from school in Jordan and visiting family at the time. Three suspects were arrested in connection with the homicide.