Police cleared in shooting of Arab nursing student during firefight
Ahmad Hejazi, 22, was killed as officers and suspected criminals exchanged fire in Tamra in northern Israel
The Justice Ministry on Sunday closed its investigation into a suspected police shooting of an Arab nursing student during a firefight with armed criminals, saying officers had acted appropriately.
Ahmad Hijazi, a 22-year-old nursing student from Tamra, was gunned down in the crossfire between police and suspected criminals last February. His death sparked headlines across Israel and helped spur a national conversation about rising gun violence in Arab towns.
The Justice Ministry’s Police Internal Investigations Department said the officers’ decision to fire the rounds suspected of killing Hijazi was appropriate given the circumstances.
Police officers ambushed three Arab Israeli gunmen in Tamra, a small town in northern Israel, inside a residential neighborhood. One of the gunmen fled into an alleyway near Hijazi’s house and began firing at the officers, who shot back.
PIID investigators found that Hijazi and another man, Mohammad Armoush, left their home after hearing gunshots and stepped into the line of fire. Armoush was wounded in the incident.
“The officers, like civilian residents in the area, were in immediate mortal danger. Given that, the officers fired at the masked [gunmen] in an attempt to protect themselves and those around them,” the PIID said in a statement.
“In the dangerous situation in which they found themselves, [the shooting] amounted to self-defense,” investigators concluded.
Hijazi’s funeral drew thousands of mourners, who saw his death as a reminder of the high toll of the gun violence plaguing Arab Israeli cities. At the time, many lamented his death as emblematic of Arab Israeli communities’ fear of both organized crime and the potential violence of government attempts to fight it.
The decision to close the case against the officers immediately drew criticism from Arab Israeli civil society groups. The PIID has often been criticized for rarely indicting police who use deadly force.
“We weren’t optimistic. They never charge the police with being reckless with Arab lives,” Jabr Hijazi, Ahmad’s brother, said in a phone call with The Times of Israel.
Last year saw a record 126 Arab Israelis and Palestinians killed inside Israel in apparent homicides. Another nine, including Hijazi, were killed by police.
The government has pledged to end the rise in violence and crime in Arab cities and towns. According to the Abraham Initiatives nonprofit, 13 Arabs were murdered inside Israel so far this year.
“Over the past year, we have seen a very, very small improvement. But it’s nowhere near enough. We still see shooting and killing and crime, every day,” Hijazi said.
The Times of Israel Community.