Highway 6
Highway 6צילום: פלאש 90

Israeli authorities have arrested five Bedouins from southern Israel, in connection with a string of violent attacks on Israeli motorists this May.

The five suspects, all residents of the Bedouin town of Lakiyah in the Negev, have been identified as Kossei al-Asad, Hassan al-Asad, Om’ar al-Asad, Wa’al el-Asad, and a minor whose name has been redacted.

Police and the Shin Bet internal security agency identified the five as suspects in attacks, described by authorities as “lynch attempts”, on at least three Israeli motorists on Highway 6 near Lakiyah Junction in the Negev.

The attacks took place on May 11th, after the outbreak of the latest round of fighting between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization.

The suspects took advantage of wider rioting in the area to attack drivers passing by on the highway.

The first attack targeted a car driven by a Jewish woman, whose vehicle was stoned and forced to stop. After a truck driver helped her escape, the woman’s car was torched by the suspects.

A second car, driven by a Thai national who is employed in Israel as a foreign worker, was stoned, forcing the driver to stop. The suspects dragged the man out of his car and beat him, while torching his car. After the suspects realized the victim was not Jewish, he was allowed to flee.

In the third attack, the suspects stoned a Jewish man’s car and attempted to drag him out of the vehicle. A police force dispatched to the scene helped pull the man to safety and take him for medical treatment.

An indictment against the five suspects has been filed at the Beersheba District Court.