13-year-old arrested for trying to bomb kiosk

A 13-year-old boy was arrested for placing powerful explosives in a Bat Yam public park last month in an attempt to bomb a kiosk at the behest of his brother, a convicted criminal, police revealed Wednesday.

Police suspect the youth was asked to place the explosives in the park by his older brother, currently serving a life sentence for murder. Apparently, the brother wanted to kill a rival criminal with whom he had an ongoing feud.

To that end, the jailed man asked his younger brother to visit a makeshift bomb factory run by a man named Shai Shamilov out of his Ramat Gan apartment. Shamilov then allegedly gave the youth the explosives his brother had asked for.

On May 2, the youth went to the park and placed the explosives he had acquired between the bushes. Visitors to the park, which is popular with children, noticed the bomb and alerted the police, who immediately sent sappers to neutralize it.

Channel 10 reported that some children, curious about the object in the bushes, had touched the bomb before it was neutralized. Luckily, it didn’t go off.

After defusing the bomb, the police arrested the youth, who confessed to the bombing attempt. He explained that the corner shop in question was owned by the family of a man who once slapped a relative of his, leading his own family to seek revenge.

Police were set to indict both the youth and Shamilov in the coming days.