Salah Khalil Faisal Na’ameh says Israeli police officers violently beat him during an arrest over a noise complaint [Screengrab/X]
A Palestinian citizen of Israel who works as a state prosecutor has accused police of breaking his nose during a violent arrest linked to a noise complaint, while newly released footage on Friday has cast doubt on the officers’ account of the incident.
Salah Khalil Faisal Na’ameh and two relatives were allegedly assaulted and arrested last week after police entered their apartment in the Israeli city of Beersheba following a complaint about loud music, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
Na’ameh suffered a broken nose requiring surgery, as well as injuries to one eye and both kidneys, the report added.
Police claimed Na’ameh and his relatives, both medical professionals, assaulted officers at the scene.
The prosecutor and his colleagues rejected claims that he acted violently before officers allegedly tackled and beat him, Haaretz reported.
The outlet later published body-camera footage from one of the officers involved in the arrest, which appeared to contradict the police’s version of events.
Lawyers representing Na’ameh and his relatives, Tomer Gonen, Ali Abu Laban, and Tamer Asadi, told Haaretz the three had been sitting on a balcony listening to music last Friday when three plain-clothes officers entered the property.
Speaking to the newspaper, Gonen said one of the officers lived nearby and that police did not present a warrant, prompting the group to ask them to leave. The officers initially departed but later returned with reinforcements.
After spotting a large group of police officers wearing helmets and masks outside the building, Na’ameh reportedly phoned the police himself.
According to Haaretz, the dispatcher advised him not to open the door, but officers soon forced their way into the flat and violently detained the three men.
Na’ameh later described the arrest during court testimony.
“They stomped on my head, kicked me, told me that I’m ‘resisting arrest’, and cursed me. During the entire ride, they hit me and treated me like the worst of the criminals,” he said. “I didn’t believe that police could do such things.”
כמה סאדיזם יש בקרב השוטרים האלה שפוצצו במכות את הסניגור בפרקליטות דרום סאלח ח׳ליל נעמה בדירתו בבאר שבע.וגם את הרופא ואח מבית החולים סורוקה ששהו יחד בדירה , בטענה לרעש .אגב הם נכנסו לדירה ללא צו.
הוא נזקק לניתוח ארוך . https://t.co/VVvSYUbL4M— Ahmad Tibi (@Ahmad_tibi) May 8, 2026
His father, Khalil Na’ameh, told Nazareth-based Nas Radio that officers allegedly continued beating his son inside the police vehicle and at the station after switching off their body cameras.
Police maintained that Na’ameh and his relatives attacked officers first while they were attempting to deal with the complaint.
The three men were held for three days on suspicion of assaulting police officers, Haaretz reported.
The Beersheba Magistrate’s Court said there was reasonable suspicion that violence had been used against officers, while it also acknowledged that Na’ameh had sustained serious injuries.
The incident has reportedly heightened tensions between police and the Southern District Attorney’s Office, where Na’ameh works, with colleagues said to support his account of events.
His father said the family intended to continue legal proceedings against the officers involved.
Israeli lawmaker Gilad Kariv of the Democrats party called for the officers to be suspended and accused far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir of fostering a “racist and violent spirit”.
“No citizen should look like this after an encounter with police,” Kariv wrote on X. “Especially when it comes to entering a private home without a warrant. Especially when it comes to a lawyer and public servant.”
He added: “More and more parts of the Israel Police are turning into a danger to the public instead of protecting it.”
The case comes amid growing concern over violence affecting Palestinian citizens of Israel.
Israeli NGO Abraham Initiatives said this week that the number of violent deaths in the Arab community had risen to 104, marking the fastest increase recorded in more than five years.
“The data proves the simple truth,” the organisation wrote on X earlier this week.
“The increase in murder cases in Arab society is the result of a racist policy of neglect. Under the current government, the murder rate has nearly tripled in four years of tenure, and in contrast, under the change government, the rate decreased from year to year.”
