- Title: Israeli court jails 14-year-old Palestinian stabber for 12 years
- Date: 7th November 2016
- Summary: JERUSALEM'S SETTLEMENT OF PISGAT ZEEV (FILE- OCTOBER 12, 2015) (REUTERS) AMBULANCE AT SCENE OF ATTACK BODY OF PALESTINIAN ATTACKER ON GROUND POLICE VEHICLES AND POLICE MEMBERS AT ATTACK SCENE VARIOUS OF ISRAELI POLICE AND MEDICAL CREWS AT SCENE
- Embargoed: 22nd November 2016 14:03
- Keywords: Israel Palestinians sentence stabber violence court
- Location: JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH, WEST BANK
- City: JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH, WEST BANK
- Country: Israel
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA00257G2WCN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: An Israeli court sentenced a 14-year-old Palestinian boy to 12 years in prison on Monday (November 7) for his part in a stabbing attack that wounded two Israelis in October last year.
The boy, named by Palestinian officials as Ahmed Manasra, carried out the attack in an Israeli settlement north of Jerusalem along with his 15-year-old cousin. The cousin was shot and killed by an Israeli passerby, while Manasra was wounded.
It was one of the first stabbings in a months-long wave of violence that caused alarm across Israel. The attack seriously wounded a 12-year-old Israeli boy who was riding on his bicycle and lightly injured a man. Both have recovered.
At the time, the incident caused widespread controversy because the Palestinian authorities accused Israel of killing both attackers. They subsequently discovered that the younger boy, sentenced on Monday, was still alive and being treated for his injuries in an Israeli hospital.
Prosecutor of Jerusalem District Court, Yuval Keidar, said the court had ruled that the accused' actions could have led to death.
"We cannot avoid handing down long jail sentences to all those who take part in terror attacks against innocent people, regardless who they are," Keidar said.
The lawyer for the accused Palestinian boy, Leah Tsemel, said she was "terrified" by the ruling because the boys who launched the attack were not trying to kill the Jews.
"A very harsh and a frightening because they are opening a horizon of horror in this country, and I am really terrified. I'm terrified as an Israeli, I'm terrified as an occupier and I am terrified as a lawyer, who tries to defend Palestinians as if they were regular human beings," she said.
In passing sentence, the Jerusalem District Court barred the naming of the boy because he is a minor. But his identity has already been exposed by Israeli authorities and the Palestinian Prisoners' Association issued a press release naming him.
In other sentences handed down by the same court on Monday, a Palestinian woman who suffered severe burns when she tried to attack Israeli security officers at a West Bank checkpoint by blowing up a gas canister was sentenced to 11 years in jail.
In Ramallah, several dozen Palestinians staged a protest in front of the U.N. offices, calling for the release of Palestinians children from Israeli prisons.
During the demonstration, Minister of Palestinian Prisoners Affairs, Issa Qaraqe, called on the United Nations to protect the Palestinian children.
Over the past year, Palestinians, many acting alone and often using rudimentary weapons, have killed at least 35 Israelis and two visiting Americans in similar attacks.
During the same period, at least 226 Palestinians have died in violent incidents in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Of those, Israel has identified 154 as assailants, while others were killed during clashes and protests. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
