Captain Faraj Haib
צילום: גילי אליהו
IDF officer killed in traffic accident
Captain Faraj Haib, of Bedouin scout unit, hit by commercial vehicle while driving mini-tractor
An IDF officer was killed Friday in a traffic accident that occurred while he was driving a mini-tractor and failed to grant right of way to a commercial vehicle.
Captain Faraj Haib's family has already been hit by disaster. Three years ago his brother Khalil, also a career military man, was killed in the line of duty. "Reality sometimes hits you harder than anything you could have imagined," said the third brother, Hib.
Faraj Haib, 24, served as an officer in a Bedouin reconnaissance unit. On Israel's 61st Independence Day he received his captain's rank and dreamed of moving up the military ladder. "Military service flows in our blood," Hib told Ynet Friday evening.
The young officer returned home to the northern village of Beit Zarzir for a furlough Friday and decided to try out his new mini-tractor, which he had never ridden before, to pick up his parents on the way to a cousin's wedding.
On the way to his parents' home he was hit by a commercial vehicle after he failed to stop in order to grant it the right of way. "I know the driver and I am not mad at him," Hib said. "What happened was fate and I trust the authorities to investigate."
