Teenager Killed in Hit-and-Run, Friend Opens Fire on Driver

A 17-year-old boy was killed early Friday morning after being struck by a commercial vehicle in the "Village" shopping complex in Hadera. The incident began around 1:40 AM when youths attending a Selichot event got into an argument with the driver, who had arrived to unload merchandise. During the altercation, the driver got into his vehicle and ran over the teenager, who was critically injured and later pronounced dead at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center. In response to the hit-and-run, a young man present at the scene shot the driver, wounding him lightly. The driver, who was arrested, claimed he feared for his life and was trying to escape. The young man suspected of firing the shots was also arrested. The investigation has been assigned to the Menashe District Crime Unit. The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) was initially involved but withdrew its involvement after ruling out any nationalistically motivated terrorism suspicions, with police clarifying the incident is purely criminal. The driver is a resident of Jaljulia.