Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Join the 2% of readers!SUPPORT OUR WORK!
Fast Forward

African Immigrant Left To Die for 18 Minutes After Being Mistaken for Terrorist

TEL AVIV — New closed-circuit television footage shows the deadly beating of an Eritrean migrant who was mistaken for a terrorist after an attack in Beersheba laying untreated on the floor for 18 minutes.

The footage released Monday by Haaretz shows Haftom Zarhum, 29, lying on the floor of the Beersheba central bus station before being treated by members of Magen David Adom, who had arrived 10 minutes earlier. The Israeli newspaper did not say how it received the video.

Zarhum was shot several times and attacked by nine people, including Israeli civilians, security forces, prison officials and soldiers, believing he was a terrorist, the footage shows.

Four of the alleged attackers have been indicted. An Israeli citizen who attempted to shield Zarhum from the crowd was pushed aside and hit.

The actual assailant, a Bedouin citizen of Israel, killed a soldier and wounded about a dozen others in the Oct. 18 attack at the bus station.

Zarhum had been seeking an extension for his visa to remain in Israel.

Are you one of our 2%?

Did you know that only 2% of Forward readers donate to support our nonprofit newsroom? That 2% make it possible for millions to read the Forward without a paywall or subscription — removing any barriers to the full and fair Jewish story.

But while the Forward is free to read, it isn’t free to produce. Big stories — like deep dives into the antisemitism data, political scoops or reporting trips to college campuses  —  take months of research and fact-checking. All while we keep you informed of what you need to know each day.

Don’t just read the Forward — invest in it. Support our work today!

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Forward Publisher & CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:

  • Credit the Forward
  • Retain our pixel
  • Preserve our canonical link in Google search
  • Add a noindex tag in Google search

See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.