Negev: Protest Demonstration Against the Killing of Ayoub Al-Toukhy by Settler Gunfire

SadaNews - Hundreds of Arab citizens demonstrated this afternoon, Thursday, at the Asaluj Junction in the Negev region, southern Israel, in protest of the killing of the young man Ayoub Al-Toukhy from the village of Bir Hadaj by settler gunfire, and to denounce the escalating murder crimes against the people of the Negev, amidst accusations against the police of negligence and complicity.

The protesters closed the main junction of Asaluj in the Negev for some time, expressing their anger and rejection of the ongoing murder crimes and the police's complicity with the aggressors.

The demonstrators also held photos of several Negev residents who were killed by Israelis, chanting slogans condemning the systematic incitement against Arab citizens, along with dangerous policies that legitimize violence and fuel hatred.

The demonstration came under the title "Life and Dignity" at the invitation of the Higher Committee for Arab Citizens in the Negev, the regional council for unrecognized villages, the Arab local authorities forum, and the local committee of Bir Hadaj, emphasizing that "silence is no longer an option, and what is happening is a systematic targeting of the people of the Negev".

In a related context, the Beersheba Magistrate's Court released the Israeli citizen who fired at the vehicle of the young Bedouin Ayoub Muhammad Toukhy (22 years old), leading to his death near the Nitzana area along the border with Egypt last week, and decided to place him under house arrest with restrictive conditions, as investigations continue which now suggest that the victim, Toukhy, was not involved in any smuggling operations.

During the session, it became clear that the young man who was with Ayoub in the vehicle, his cousin Muhammad Toukhy, was released without holding a session to address his case, after the police found no evidence linking him to smuggling, contrary to what they had claimed during the discussions about extending his detention in the early days after the incident.

The police admitted, in its arguments before the court, that there were contradictions in the accounts of the suspect in the shooting and clarified that they attribute to him suspicions of "causing death due to negligence". They also indicated that the crime occurred while a soldier was accompanying the suspect in the vehicle, and that the investigation into the shooting is being conducted by a special joint investigation team from the police and the military police unit.

The shooter claimed that during his pursuit of Toukhy's vehicle, he saw someone exiting from the car window with an object "that appeared to him like a bomb or a pistol", which according to his claim prompted him to shoot at the vehicle's tires out of a feeling of "danger to life".