Terrorist involved in ramming attack in 2019 sentenced to four years in jail

A terrorist involved in a ramming attack against an IDF officer in 2019 will serve four years in prison after reaching a plea bargain with the military prosecution, a military court ruled on Monday.

The attack took place nearly two years ago near Kafr Ni’ma, a Palestinian village located 13 kilometers northwest of Ramallah in the West Bank.

According to the indictment, on March 2019, three terrorists wearing Hamas affiliated clothing made their way to a military checkpoint near road 443 and threw seven Molotov cocktails towards it – eventually setting it on fire.

They then escaped, making their way towards Ramallah, when noticing IDF troops positioned near Kafr Ni’ma. Taking advantage of the fact that the soldiers were standing near the road, the terrorists decided to run over them. The incident resulted in an IDF officer critically injured and a border police soldier lightly injured.

Two of the involved terrorist were shot and killed by IDF forces on the spot, while the third one, a minor, was arrested and sentenced on Monday.

Following the attack, the officer had to go through an intensive rehabilitation process, and has not yet fully recovered.

The military court decided to reject the officer’s objection to the plea bargain reached with the terrorist and on Monday sentenced him to 48 months in prison. He will also be required to pay the officer compensations in an unspecified amount.

Attorney Haim Bleicher from HONENU, a legal aid organization that represented the officer, said that “the terrorist was part of a terrorist group and must bear the full responsibility for the group’s actions.”

He added that “in the war on terrorism, all involved parties must bear the full responsibility and be punished accordingly in order to deter others considering taking part in such activity. We’re deeply sorry for the plea bargain and the trial’s outcomes and expect a change in policy in the legal battle against terrorism.”

Source: JP