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Israel jails Palestinian school girl for attempted stabbing

Xinhua, November 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

An Israeli court on Wednesday sentenced a Palestinian school girl to 13.5 years in prison after she and her cousin carried out a stabbing attack with scissors in Jerusalem last year.

The 16-year-old girl, whose name was not disclosed as a minor at the time of the incident, was convicted of attempted murder although she did not wound anyone.

The court also convicted her of unlawful possession of a knife and sentenced her a payment of 30,000 shekels (about 7,750 U.S. dollars) in compensation to a man in his 70s, who was stabbed by the girl's cousin.

According to Jerusalem District Court, on Nov. 23, 2015, the girl was convinced by her 14-year-old cousin to carry out a stabbing attack in Jerusalem.

A video footage, released after the incident, showed the two with their school bags walking near a light rail station on Jaffa Street in central Jerusalem, looking for people to stab.

The cousin stabbed an elderly Palestinian man, apparently mistaking him for an Israeli, in his neck. The man sustained light injuries.

They then headed to the Mahane Yehuda Market, where a civilian hit the cousin with a chair, knocking her down to the ground, before another civilian shot at her. A policeman, who was at the scene by chance, shot at the two, injuring the defendant and killing her younger cousin.

The incident came amid a Palestinian unrest, including stabbing, car-ramming, and shooting attacks. The violence has claimed the lives of at least 235 Palestinians and 34 Israelis since September 2015.

Israel has been accused of using excessive force to quell the unrest. The killing of the girl was condemned by Palestinians and human rights organizations as an example of an unjustified use of lethal force against Palestinians who stabbed or were suspected of attempted stabbing. Endit