A Border Police officer shot and killed a Bedouin Israeli man in the southern city of Rahat overnight on Saturday, police announced.

Law enforcement said that the deceased, 50-year-old Ahmad al-Na’ami, fled officers on foot before attacking them, causing them to fear for their lives. His family rejects this version of events, noting he was physically disabled.

According to police, a group of officers operating in the city before dawn spotted a suspicious vehicle and flagged it down. The driver began to flee in his car, and police chased after him.

When he disembarked and tried to escape police on foot, two Border Police reservists chased him down while firing in the air and soon apprehended him.

Police claimed that at this point, Na’ami allegedly “forcefully resisted arrest” and attacked officers. “The officers felt their lives were in danger and at that point opened fire and the suspect was injured,” their statement read.

Na’ami was unarmed at the time he was shot in the torso, a Border Police spokesperson told Haaretz. He was taken to Soroka Medical Center, where he succumbed to his wounds.

“This is murder from point blank. If he were Jewish this wouldn’t have happened,” his brother told Channel 12 News. According to him, the deceased formerly served as a tracker in the IDF Desert Reconnaissance Unit and leaves behind seven........

© The Times of Israel