Court ruling10/18/2026

Court Convicts Killer Who Posed as a Wolt Delivery Worker

The Tel Aviv District Court unanimously convicted Hussein Atayev, a 40-year-old Sudanese citizen, of aggravated murder in the killing of Musa Muhammad. He was also convicted of carrying a weapon and obstructing justice; as of publication, he had not yet been sentenced, but the law mandates life imprisonment for this type of murder.

Key facts

•Court: Tel Aviv District Court
•Decision publication date: October 18, 2026
•The crime was committed on September 30, 2023
•Defendant: Hussein Atayev, 40
•Victim: Musa Muhammad
•The case number and the name of the applicable statute are not stated in the source

The Attack in Tel Aviv

According to the indictment, Atayev left his home on Chelnov Street on the morning of September 30, 2023, carrying a 9 mm pistol. He was wearing a Wolt jacket, a black helmet, a mask and gloves, and his electric bicycle was fitted with a stolen Wolt box. On Har Zion Street, he approached Musa Muhammad and fired five shots at him from close range.

Attempt to Cover His Tracks

After the shooting, the defendant left the scene, gave a pistol wrapped in black cloth to an unidentified person, and changed his clothes in the courtyard of a home on Levinsky Street. He then returned home and later went back to the crime scene, where he watched the ambulance crew at work. Muhammad was taken to Ichilov Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 06:50.

The Evidence Accepted by the Court

Judges Yossi Topf, Oded Maor and Maayan Ben Ari ruled that the prosecution had proven the charge under the criminal standard of proof. The court relied on continuous camera footage, a Wolt box with a matching number, gunshot residue on objects, and the defendant’s DNA profile found on the mask, with a match probability of one in more than 100 billion. The court ruled that the alternative explanation offered by the defendant was inconsistent with the objective evidence.

The Defense’s Arguments

Atayev denied that he was the shooter. Public defenders Nir Alfasa and Muhammad Mahajna argued that police questioned their client in Hebrew without an Arabic interpreter and that they had not examined the camera footage comprehensively enough. The court ruled that the lack of translation was an error, but did not give it weight sufficient to alter the conclusion based on the evidence; the defense announced that it would study the decision and consider its next steps.

What this means for you

The decision indicates that a combination of video recordings, physical evidence and DNA may be sufficient for a conviction even when the defendant denies involvement. An infringement of the right to interpretation does not, by itself, necessarily lead to the exclusion of evidence or an acquittal if the court finds the remaining objective evidence sufficient. The source does not yet state the precise sentence, but aggravated murder carries mandatory life imprisonment.

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