Mohammad Abu Khdeir: Teens Convicted In Burning Death Of Palestinian Boy

He held the Israeli government “fully responsible for the ongoing crimes committed against the Palestinians”, and called on the United Nations Human Rights Council to delegate a committee to investigate the reality of the situation in the Palestinian territories.

The two teenagers, who were not named because they are juveniles, are expected to be sentenced in January.

The directive came one day after Israel Defense Forces soldiers raided a popular radio station in the West Bank city of Hebron, confiscated equipment, and shut down the station due to accusations that it has been inciting violence against Israelis.

The courtroom found the 2 Israeli minors guilty of killing Mohammed Abu Khdeir, who was burned to death within the early Jul. 2014 attack.

Despite Ben David having pleaded insanity throughout the trial, no evidence was ever presented to support the claim – until last Thursday. The minors said Ben David beat the Arab boy, who was very thin and small for his age, in the auto as they drove to the Jerusalem Forest.

Judge Jacob Zaban said the late timing of the plea was “against regular and appropriate protocol”, but still agreed to consider it.

Ben-David’s non-conviction arose as a result of a last-minute mental health assessment submitted to the court on Thursday which, unusually, was written in English by an Israeli psychiatrist.

The two were convicted of burning and killing 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir in July 2014.

Family and the prosecutor of the slain teenager claim that Ben David is sane and they point to statements before and following the homicide that reveals him lucid.

“Israel is using a humanitarian issue for political gains and that reflects the racism of the Israeli occupation amid the silence of the global community”, Salem Khalleh, the group’s coordinator, said.

Another cousin, 28-year-old Ansam Abu Khdeir, believes the legal defence had employed a loophole by pleading insanity, which would prevent a life sentence and allow for him to be kept in a psychiatric facility: “There is no justice in Israeli – it has always been this way, every Israeli who kills a Palestinian is deemed mentally unsound”.

His death sparked weeks of angry protests by Palestinians outraged by the apparent revenge killing.

Nonetheless, six Jewish Israeli suspects were arrested a few days later in connection with Abu Khdeir’s murder, three of whom were eventually put on trial.

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. “I hoped they all would get a punishment”, said the mother of the victim, Suha Abu Khdeir, 45, from her living room hours after the trial ended.

Before this year, arsonists considered to be Jewish radicals torched a house in the West Bank in the Palestinian village of Duma, killing a toddler and his parents. The last round of direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians broke down in 2014, with U.S. Special Envoy Martin Indyk blaming Israel for the collapse.