Israeli prosecutors on Wednesday called for life sentences for two young Jews convicted in 2015 of burning alive a Palestinian teen, part of an upsurge in violence ahead of the 2014 Gaza war.
Israeli prosecutors on Wednesday called for life sentences for two young Jews convicted in 2015 of burning alive a Palestinian teen, part of an upsurge in violence ahead of the 2014 Gaza war.
Prosecutors made the request at a sentencing hearing in a Jerusalem court for the two, who were minors at the time of the chilling attack in which they and a third man snatched Mohammed Abu Khdeir (16) from an East Jerusalem street and subsequently killed him.
Israeli settler Yosef Haim Ben-David (31) is said to have led the attack on Abu Khdeir but his lawyers say he suffers from a mental illness and was not responsible for his actions at the time.
The court has found that he committed the crime but is yet to rule if he is mentally competent.
The two others were 16 when they were charged in 2014 but are now adults.
The court’s actions are being closely watched at a time of renewed Israeli-Palestinian tensions.
A wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks targeting Israelis began in October.
Meanwhile, a military court in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Wednesday sentenced four Palestinians to death on charges of spying for Israel, a statement and court sources said.
The court said in a brief statement that a 23-year-old man from the Zeitoun area south of Gaza City had been sentenced to death on espionage charges. It did not provide his name.
