The Central District Attorney’s Office filed a severe indictment on Sunday at the Central-Lod District Court against three residents of Taibe—Adham Jabali, 30, Ahmad Masarwa, 28, and Muhammad Jabali, 28—charging them with the premeditated murder of local businessman Raed Haj Yahya. The indictment attributes offenses of aggravated intentional murder, unlawful possession and transport of a firearm, and ammunition trafficking to all three defendants. In addition, Adham Jabali faces criminal charges of driving while disqualified and operating a motor vehicle without insurance.
According to court filings, the defendants engaged in meticulous operational planning to execute Haj Yahya by gunfire. In preparation for the hit, the group procured a vehicle fitted with counterfeit license plates originating in Judea and Samaria, equipped themselves with a loaded handgun, and assigned specific operational roles. On the day of the assassination, September 10, Adham Jabali took up a surveillance position outside the victim’s home, monitoring his movements, while Muhammad Jabali and Ahmad Masarwa lay in wait inside the operational vehicle on an adjacent roadway. The moment Haj Yahya exited his driveway in his private vehicle, Muhammad and Ahmad maneuvered their car into the roadway, completely cutting off his path.
Ahmad Masarwa stepped out of the vehicle, drew the loaded handgun, and fired approximately 14 rounds at Haj Yahya from point-blank range through the car windows. Moments later, Masarwa returned to the vehicle and fired additional rounds into the victim to verify the kill. The defendants sped away from the scene, leaving Haj Yahya critically wounded in his driver’s seat. Emergency medical personnel evacuated him to a regional hospital, where physicians were forced to pronounce his death. Later that evening, the perpetrators transported the ambush car to a secluded area in Taibe and set it ablaze to incinerate ballistic and forensic evidence.
In its accompanying motion requesting that the defendants be detained until the conclusion of legal proceedings, the prosecution stressed the crime’s calculated, cold-blooded brutality. State prosecutors noted that the defendants acted with resolute determination, executing an armed ambush in the center of Taibe in plain view of civilian bystanders. Haj Yahya, 50, a well-known local entrepreneur who owned a regional manpower and staffing company, was slain during an ongoing surge of violent crime across the Arab sector, where homicides have reached roughly 170 victims since the start of the year.