Israeli court convicts two in 2014 murder of Palestinian teen

Two Israeli teenagers were convicted Monday at a Jerusalem court, in the killing of a 16-year-old Palestinian boy in 2014.

On Monday, the panel of three judges at the Jerusalem District Court found the minors guilty. Their names weren’t let go under Israeli law.

The two convicted minors will be sentenced in mid-January.

That ruling has been criticized as too lenient.

Nineteen Israelis have died in stabbing, shooting and car-ramming attacks by Palestinians in the past two months, amid an ongoing wave of violence, as well as one US national and a Palestinian man.

Who was Mohammed Abu Khdeir? .

Maisa al-Khateeb is the mother of 17-year-old slain Palestinian Mustafa Al-Khateeb, who was executed in cold blood by the Israeli army near the El-Isbat (Lions) Gate in East Jerusalem last month.

Despite Ben David having pleaded insanity throughout the trial, no evidence was ever presented to support the claim – until last Thursday.

“This development shows that the first defendant in this case will be either acquitted or gets a mitigation excuse”, Ahmad Rwaidi said. He was bundled into a auto near his home, beaten unconscious, driven to a nearby forest and burned alive by Ben-David and two minors.

Zaban found that the two young accomplices doused Muhammad with gasoline and that Ben David lit the match. Mr Ben David chose not to testify.

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

Mohammed Abu Khdeir, 16, was abducted and killed on July 2, 2014, weeks after the kidnap and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank.

Israel launched a concerted military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip after their bodies were discovered near the village of Halhul, on 1 July, 2014.

Two young Israeli men have been convicted of kidnapping and burning to death a Palestinian teenager in an incident that played a large role in the outbreak of war previous year in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. The confrontation evolved into the 50-day-war that killed more than 2,200 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, according to United Nations figures.

Ben David confessed, incriminating the two minors.

“None of the Israeli psychiatrists would write a report for Ben David, the defence tried to pay a lawyer from overseas but the judge initially refused”.

Prosecutor Uri Corb vowed to fight any insanity plea. Ben-David lived in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank and is the son an ultra-Orthodox rabbi. Hillary Clinton, who was U.S. Secretary of State at the time, was also present.

The EU published new guidelines on November 11 for labelling products made in Israeli settlements, a move Brussels said was technical but which Israel branded “discriminatory” and damaging to peace efforts with the Palestinians.

Police said Khdeir was targeted in revenge for the killings of three Israeli yeshiva students who were abducted killed while hitchhiking in the West Bank.

As of September this year, 29 Palestinian homes have been demolished in occupied East Jerusalem, leaving 29 Palestinians homeless, according to Israeli rights group B’Tselem.