Suspect charged in fatal playground shooting of 4-year-old Arab boy
Atif Khaledi, 24, accused of opening fire with an assault rifle at a truck from a rival construction company, with a stray bullet hitting Ammar Hujayrat
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Prosecutors on Friday filed charges against a 24-year-old Nazareth man over January’s killing of four-year-old Ammar Hujayrat, who was hit by a stray bullet while in a playground.
According to the indictment, Atif Khaledi, employed by his uncle’s construction company, was told to deal with a suspect allegedly stealing construction material from a building site in the northern town of Bir al-Maksur.
Khaledi, armed with an M-16 assault rifle, began chasing a dump truck belonging to another contractor who had allegedly loaded dirt and stones from the construction site, the indictment read.
He fired at least 55 rounds at the truck, while two other suspects were in his car, according to the indictment. They were not immediately identified or charged.
One of the stray bullets hit Hujayrat who was in a playground some 300 meters (984 feet) away with his aunt. He was critically hurt and died of his wounds shortly thereafter at a hospital.
Several suspects have been detained in connection with the killing, but only Khaledi has been indicted so far. He is charged with murder with reduced liability, aggravated sabotage, weapon offenses, and obstruction of justice.
His remand is expected to be extended until the end of legal proceedings.
Hujayrat’s death sparked an outcry in Israel with thousands of people attending his funeral. President Isaac Herzog spoke with Muhammad Hujayrat, the father of Ammar, and expressed his “deep horror” at the child’s killing and offered the family his condolences.
The killing highlighted the surge of violence that has plagued Arab communities in recent years, driven mainly, but not exclusively, by organized crime. Hujayrat’s killing marked the first fatality from Arab community violence in 2022, after a particularly bloody 2021.
Arab Israelis blame police, who they say have failed to crack down on powerful criminal organizations and largely ignore the violence, which includes family feuds, mafia turf wars and violence against women.
The Abraham Initiatives, which monitors and campaigns against violence in the Arab community, said there were 125 Arabs killed in Israel in 2021 as a result of violence and crime, of whom 62 were below the age of 30.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Public Security Minister Omer Barlev have vowed to crack down on the violence as well as illegal weapons.
The Times of Israel Community.