Israel convicts 2 youths in grisly 2014 killing of Palestinian teen

Ben David as well as reenacted the grisly homicide for investigators, according to authorities and the two unnamed minors admitted to the offense.

Although they evaded capture for several months, Amer Abu Aysha and Marwan Kawasme were eventually shot and killed by Israeli forces.

His attorney repeatedly argued Ben David wasn’t competent to stand trial and wasn’t responsible for his actions at the time of the crimes but brought no psychiatric evaluation supporting those claims – until this past Thursday.

But the Israeli government may continue making efforts to crack down on Jewish extremists, not only for Israelis’ and Palestinians’ safety, but to prevent further outbreaks of violence and instability.

Meanwhile in the West Bank city of Hebron, the Israeli army shut down Dream radio station, the third private broadcaster it has closed there, accusing it of stoking the violence. “I’m afraid that the court will eventually get them off the hook”, he was quoted as saying by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

However, the main suspect, Yosef Haim Ben David, 31, is expected to escape conviction as the judge agreed to reconsider his insanity plea.

Mohammed Abu Khdeir was taken from his home in east Jerusalem on 2 July, 2014.

The judge found that Ben David drove the vehicle while the two youths beat Abu Khdeir unconscious in the back seat.

While he was living, before a match lit and set him on fire among the minors helped douse Mohammad Abu Khdair, they added.

The three suspects were arrested shortly after the killing but their trial had been held behind closed doors.

Meanwhile, before leaving for Paris, Netanyahu instructed the Foreign Ministry to suspend contacts with the European Union until the dust settles on its recent decision to label Israeli products manufactured outside the 1949 pre-armistice lines as “not made in Israel”.

Days later, Israel launched a military operation against Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. It caused the deaths of more than 2,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians, while Israel counted 73 dead on its side, mostly soldiers. Mr Ben David chose not to testify. Zaban said the late timing was “against regular and appropriate protocol”, but said the court would examine it and issue a verdict later in December. The youthful defendants asserted that Ben David gave them “pills and energy drinks”.

Israel has a mandatory life sentence for adults convicted of murder, Gross said.

Abu Khdeir’s father denounced the delay in the verdict for the man accused of being the ringleader and called for the trio’s houses to be demolished, as Israel does for Palestinian attackers.

Mohammed Abu Khdeir, 16, was kidnapped, assaulted, and burned to death in July 2014.

“What motivates this terrorism is objection to the existence of the state of Israel as the Jewish people’s national state”, Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, according to a statement from his office.