Rahat mayor's sons arrested for illegal weapon possession

Israel Police arrested Rahat mayor Ata Abu-Madighem's two sons as well as another relative on Saturday night after two illegal guns were found in the mayor's home, according to Israeli Border Police.

Police also seized ammunition at the scene. 

The suspects, three men in their 30s, were brought to a hearing in the Beersheba Magistrate's Court, which resulted in an extension of their detainment until Sunday. 

Rahat's mayor makes a statement to the media

On Saturday night, the mayor of Rahat released a statement to the press:

"On Friday, at a wedding in the city, one of the boys received an open threat from another family. In light of this, my whole family left the wedding. The [other] family, which included about ten young men, arrived at the grocery store at the entrance to my neighborhood and began to beat my two sons. The police were there and began to deal with the threat and the lynching.

"Many people came to my house...during this, an undercover agent brought a weapon into the compound where I live with my siblings and parents in 10 housing units. It was claimed that police received information from an informant and came to conduct a search, and there they found two guns thrown near my brother's house in the backyard - the guns are not our property to the best of my knowledge. And the suspects arrested include my two sons who I understand have nothing to do with the incident. 

"I hope that things will become clear and, God forbid, it will not be determined that there is a player involved which was put in place in order to bring the weapon and hide a situation that would involve people who have nothing to do with the case."

Recent violence in Rahat

That morning in Rahat, a man in his 50s was shot in his car early morning.

MDA paramedics arrived on the scene and brought the man to a local clinic in the city in critical condition with penetrating injuries, N12 reported. The paramedics then evacuated him to the Soroka Medical Center, where he later died of his wounds. 

The man killed was revealed to be Rushdi Albachiri, a businessman and an alleged criminal who was involved in shooting incidents in the past, sources say.

Police started to conduct an investigation into the incident and are searching for suspects. A police situation assessment was carried out led by the Negev district attorney, Nachshon Nagler.