Police in the Negev shot dead an Arab Bedouin man during a raid in his village on Saturday night, January 3. The killing of 36-year-old Muhammed Hussein Tarabin and father of six children came as police have been conducting what they describe as a “crackdown on crime} in the southern village of Tarabin for the past week. Tarabin’s 11-year-old son Hussein said in a video statement published by Hadash that men in uniform came to their house at night. He heard shots and saw his father’s body lying on the ground.

The shooting came as part of a broader, open-ended police operation in Tarabin that has seen hundreds of officers and Border Police National Guard troops deployed, the village sealed off, and a temporary command center established.

Members of the Arab Bedouin community of Bir Hadaj in the Negev protest against the ongoing violence by security forces. Protesters blocked a main road, demanding justice following the death of Ayoub Mohammed Tohi, who was shot by a civilian working for the army last week as he was driving near the Egyptian fence. Tohi is the sixth Arab Bedouin from the community to be killed by Israeli police, military or armed civilians in recent years, January 1, 2026 (Photo: Activestills)

Racist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir issued a strong statement, backing the officers involved in the murder and praising “the intensified enforcement in the Negev.” Hadash lawmakers condemned the operation and the minister’s remarks. Hadash-Ta’al Chairman Ayman Odeh accused Ben-Gvir of incitement in a social media post and called on opposition leaders to condemn the incident and visit the village. According to Odeh, the shooting as a dangerous escalation and demanded an investigation, claiming officers acted without justification. Representatives of the Arab Bedouin public echoed those criticisms, calling for Ben-Gvir’s dismissal and an independent probe.