Teenager Killed, Driver Injured in Violent Altercation in Hadera

A 17-year-old from the Itamar settlement in the Samaria region, Amihai Atia, was fatally struck by a vehicle in Hadera on Thursday night. The driver, a resident of the village of Kafr Mandi, was subsequently shot and lightly injured. The incident occurred after an argument erupted between high school students and the driver at the Village shopping complex. Atia was hit by the car during the altercation, and the shooting took place afterward.

The driver was arrested and claimed he feared for his life and was trying to escape. One of the teenagers was also apprehended. Police stated that the motive for the incident is criminal and there is no suspicion of a nationalistic terror attack. The investigation is ongoing.

Atia had arrived in Hadera with other students from the Hitzim Yeshiva in Itamar for a Selichot event organized by the Olga Yeshiva and the Hadera municipality. According to the students, the driver, who was unloading goods, intentionally made noise during prayers. When they asked him to be quiet, the dispute began. Video footage shows the teenagers running towards the commercial vehicle, which initially reversed before accelerating and fatally hitting Atia.

Paramedics pronounced Atia dead at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center after attempts to resuscitate him following severe head trauma. The article also briefly mentions other violent incidents occurring across Israel that night, including a man found dead in Ashkelon and a 23-year-old man seriously injured in a stabbing in Haifa, both with criminal motives.

Paramedic Yiska Ben Nun described the scene, stating, "When we arrived, we were led to the victim lying in a commercial center parking lot after being hit by a vehicle, unconscious, without a pulse or breathing, suffering from severe head trauma. We immediately began advanced resuscitation efforts and evacuated him in an MDA intensive care unit to the hospital while continuing resuscitation efforts, his condition critical."