On December 27, 2025, youths set fire to settlers' cars in the Givat Bar settlement in the Negev, southern Israel (surveillance camera footage).

After this arson incident, four residents of Tarabin al-Sana were allegedly set fire to vehicles in nearby Jewish communities. Police arrested three suspects within a day of the attacks. Investigators described the arson as an act of retaliation linked to earlier police activity in the town.

Hundreds of police officers and Border Police fighters carried out a sweeping raid in the southern Bedouin town of Tarabin al-Sana, with reports of live gunfire used during the operation. Authorities said the action was part of an intensified law enforcement effort in the area.

Police stated that forces are working to fully encircle the town. Shortly before the raid, dozens of Border Police vans were seen gathered near a gas station outside Tarabin al-Sana, indicating preparations for a coordinated incursion.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visited Tarabin al-Sana. During the visit, he pledged a tougher response to crime and unrest in the locality, signaling increased enforcement measures.

At the same time, army bases in the surrounding region raised their defense readiness for what were described as operational reasons, according to reports. The military did not issue further details regarding the change in posture.

Police have not specified the precise tactical goals of the raid. Officials said the operation is intended to reinforce governance, uphold the rule of law, and deliver a clear response to serious criminal activity.

The situation in Tarabin al-Sana remains tense as security forces continue operations across the town.

Timeline:

26 December 2025

Clashes in the village began on Friday, when Israeli police patrol cars entered the village in search of a stolen horse, quickly flooding the streets with clouds of pepper spray and tear gas.

27 December 2025

On Saturday, masked assailants broke into two communities in southern Israel and set on fire and vandalized vehicles. Israeli police attributed the arson attacks to residents of Tarabin al-Sana’, describing them as retaliatory acts for the police’s activity on Friday. Dozens of police officers raided Tarabin al-Sana in response and arrested six suspects.

28 December 2025

Israeli police announced the arrest of three to four suspects linked to the car arson. According to police statements, the arson cases were already under investigation at this stage.

On Sunday, police fired tear gas into a local mosque during evening prayers and fired rubber-coated bullets.

29 December 2025

On Monday, large-scale police raids began in Tarabin al-Sana’: Hundreds of police officers and Border Police units were deployed firing flares, breaking windows in homes, and throwing stun grenades inside. Night raids, house searches, roadblocks, and crowd-control measures were reported. The operation was officially framed under “Operation New Order” (Seder Hadash).

Police said the operation in the village of Tarabin al-Sana was part of “comprehensive activity to strengthen governance,” and was carried out in response to “acts of revenge by criminals over the weekend.”

Police arrested 16 people, and 19 were barred from southern Israel. Police also said officers found military weapons and combat equipment during the raid. According to police, residents disrupted police activity, who used protest dispersal means against them. Yasser, a village resident, told Haaretz the raid felt like war. “They enter homes and arrest youths,” he said, “they arrested my brother, who’s 28, and I don’t know why. There’s a police helicopter here, horses, a water cannon. It feels like Tulkarm,” he said, referring to the West Bank city where Israeli forces have conducted a counter-terrorism operation. “I don’t know what they want.”

Police also searched “criminal compounds” and fenced off the entire village with concrete blocks to ensure the security of “normal” residents of the south.

31 December 2025

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited Tarabin al-Sana’ during the ongoing raids. He publicly stated the goal was to “restore governance and deterrence.” The visit took place after arrests had already been made and while operations were ongoing.

1–3 January 2026

Police operations continued repeated incursions into the village, encirclement measures and additional searches.

Night of 3–4 January 2026

Muhammad Hussein Tarabin, a Palestinian resident of the village, was shot and killed by Israeli police during a raid. Police claim the shooting occurred because he posed a threat to officers. Family members and local residents dispute this account, stating he was shot without posing an immediate danger. Calls were made for an independent investigation.

Lawmaker and United Arab List chair Mansour AbbaS statement:

Speaking at a press conference at the Knesset: “unlike [National Security] Minister [Itamar] Ben-Gvir, who interferes with the police’s work, we think the police should act in accordance with the law, and in a professional manner.” (...) police “must respect the rights of citizens and provide them with security, while acting in the most appropriate way to eradicate crime and violence.”. “We must not treat Arab citizens as enemies or Arab communities as if they are beyond the country’s borders,” he said, adding that the government has failed to address the root problems in Arab society, particularly in the Negev. “The results are clear – there is no governance, no sovereignty and no law and order, because Minister Ben-Gvir is interfering with and harming the work of the police and other areas the government is supposed to handle.”

Name of the martyr:

Muhammad Hussein Al-Tarabin, 35 killed 2026-01-04

He was shot dead by Israeli police officers, during their storming of the village of Tarabin al-Sanea in the Negev region to carry out arrests of what they described as "suspects of the (price tag) events in recent days" IDF and Ben Gvir statements:

The Israeli police claimed in a statement that the martyr "exposed the workforce to danger during its activity, so they shot him", while its officers stormed the village to carry out arrests of what they described as "suspects of the (price tag) events in recent days".

In the aftermath, Ben Gvir was quick to declare in an interview his "full support" for the police, saying "everyone who puts the police and our fighters in danger must be neutralized, and it is good that what happened is so.. The days when police officers were harmed and in danger ended without a response."