"Let him die, it's not a big deal": The transport of illegal aliens that ended in a vehicular assault

A transport driver, a resident of Dura in the Hebron district, who murdered one person and attempted to murder several others, is now charged with four serious counts in an indictment filed at the District Court in Beersheba.

At the beginning of last month, as reported in "Maariv", Basel Shoamra (27) transported several Palestinians from the Judea area toward a breach in the security fence near Kibbutz Dvir in the northeastern Negev. People entered the commercial vehicle he was driving: 8 in the front cabin and 10 in the rear cargo bed. They intended to enter Israeli territory illegally through the breach.

At a certain point, some passengers asked Shoamra to stop because one of them was feeling ill. He was angry and made it clear that he did not intend to do so, for fear of being caught by security forces. The demand for him to stop was made several times, which angered Shoamra. He stopped the vehicle, got out, and began shouting at the passengers. He cursed them and said he did not care what happened to the passenger who was feeling ill: "Let him die, it's not a big deal," he said. "Let him wait until we reach the grove," he added, before continuing to drive.

When the vehicle reached the grove, Shoamra stopped suddenly. He got out and returned to confront his passengers in the cargo bed. A brawl developed, during which Shoamra was hit and injured in his head.

He returned to the vehicle and began chasing the passengers, who were trying to escape on foot. Muhammad Sharha, his brother, and his cousin tried to flee up a hill. Shoamra noticed them, accelerated, and hit them with great force. The three fell to the ground. Shoamra intentionally ran over Sharha, then tried to hit several other passengers with the vehicle.

Failing to do so, he decided to flee. He drove the vehicle under a nearby railway bridge and left the area. Before that, he filmed himself highlighting the bleeding injury on his head and recorded a voice message claiming that five people had beaten him and that he had not murdered anyone. He left the phone in the vehicle.

A Magen David Adom team pronounced Sharha dead and treated the two other injured persons. Police officers began investigating the circumstances and collecting evidence.

Shoamra fled to Beersheba. He was arrested after a day of flight, after calling the police and turning himself in. During the reconstruction of the incident, he led investigators to the place where he had hidden the vehicle and claimed he had been attacked. After evidence was presented, Shoamra began to exercise his right to remain silent.

Five passengers detailed the confrontations and the driver's attempts to harm them. The Southern District Attorney's Office filed an indictment including seven counts: intentional murder, attempted murder, intentional aggravated assault, illegal stay in Israel, and transporting illegal aliens under aggravating circumstances.

In addition, he is charged with driving without a license, as he never obtained one. It became clear that the vehicle had been taken off the road and its license plate was forged. Shoamra is also charged with driving an unregistered vehicle.

The Southern District Attorney's Office filed a request for his detention until the end of legal proceedings. Attorney Giora Hazan, who filed the indictment, wrote that the recording made after the incident indicates that Shoamra knew exactly what he was doing and understood in real-time that he had murdered Sharha. Attorney Hazan defined the vehicle as a weapon and noted that Shoamra has several convictions for illegal entry into Israel and a suspended sentence pending against him.