"I turned to get the phone to call the police," the driver recalled. "But suddenly, punches to the head, blows to the right and left until I lost consciousness. I only woke up in the ambulance."Follow us on GoogleKhaled Awaishat, bus driver who was attacked by a minor in Beit Shemesh, August 31, 2026.(photo credit: Screenshot/X/@Ahmad_tibi)ByALON HOCHMON, MIRIAM SELA-EITAMAUGUST 31, 2026 11:37A 15-year-old from Jerusalem was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of assaulting and moderately injuring Khaled Awaishat, a 48-year-old Arab bus driver, in Beit Shemesh earlier this week.Police responded to the scene after receiving a report of a fight in the city, where an argument had broken out between the driver and the teenager, during which the suspect allegedly spat at the driver and assaulted him before fleeing the scene.Awaishat was taken to the hospital to receive medical treatment.Police located the suspect overnight, and he is slated to appear in court on Monday for a hearing on extending his detention."He spat at me and called me a 'dirty Arab' before punching me in the face," Awaishat said, recounting the incident to KAN Reshet Bet on Monday morning.Illustration image of handcuffs on the hands of an arrested man, in Jerusalem, May 21, 2025. (credit: YOSSI ZAMIR/FLASH90)Not allowed to let passengers off between stopsAccording to Awaishat, the argument began after the teenager demanded to be let off the bus between stations because of a traffic jam. "I stopped at the station; no one wanted to get off, no one wanted to get on. I closed the doors and started driving. I drove maybe 10 meters away from the station, and there was a traffic jam. I stopped, like everyone else. Suddenly one [of the passengers] jumped up and wanted to get off there," Awaishat said."I'm not allowed to do that," explained Awaishat, adding that he had told the teenager as much. "By law, I'm not allowed to let him off the bus, not at a station.""[When] I refused to open the doors, he opened [the driver's] door and punched me with an iron in his hand. I was already fainting; I fell out of my chair. I'm lucky I pulled the brake.""I turned to get the phone to call the police," he recalled. "But suddenly, punches to the head, blows to the right and left until I lost consciousness. I only woke up in the ambulance. No one intervened."Bus drivers afraid to travel in some areas of Beit ShemeshAwaishat said that he and other drivers are afraid to travel in some areas of the city."All the drivers suffer there," he said. "They harass the drivers, curse at the drivers, sometimes beat the drivers. They block the drivers with their scooters and bicycles. Do you understand? They do it, in short, on purpose. What's going on in Beit Shemesh? It's a waste of time. A lot of drivers have left their jobs."Awaishat still doesn't know if he'll go back to bus driving, he told KAN."The truth is, first of all, I want to see what the police do about this," he said. "When will this racism end? I come to work to provide a service, and you treat me like this? They don't even say good morning. They don't say thank you. Do you understand? I'm almost 50, I'm already a grandfather, do you understand?""These are [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir's soldiers; what do we do? Ben-Gvir doesn't give us protection from the police. Look at how many drivers get beaten up. Because I'm an Arab. Let's put it this way: if it were the other way around, what would they do?"Follow us on Google