14-year-old gets attempted murder rap in light rail stabbing
East Jerusalem teen carried out attack with his 11-year-old cousin; Israeli-Arab charged in Eilat attack
The Jerusalem district prosecutor charged a 14-year-old Palestinian from the Beit Hanina neighborhood with attempted murder on Thursday in the November 10 stabbing attack on the light rail station in Pisgat Ze’ev, which injured an Israeli security guard. The teen was also charged with holding a knife.
The indictment contends that the suspect decided to carry out an attack as revenge for the death of a relative, who was himself killed while carrying out a stabbing attack.
The second suspect in the attack is the teen’s 11-year-old cousin, who was shot and injured by a guard during the attack.
The 14-year-old is accused of convincing his cousin to join him in the attack.
The two allegedly entered the light rail at the Damascus Gate station after failing to find a suitable victim in the Old City. In the train, they searched for potential victims.
When a light rail security guard entered their train car, the two allegedly decided to make him their first target and afterward attack other travelers. When the train was passing the Shuafat stop in East Jerusalem, the 14-year-old allegedly got up from his seat and started stabbing the guard with a knife, while his younger cousin joined in, attacking with a pair of scissors.
After the attack, an uncle claimed that the boys were innocent and may have been framed.
The stabbing came amid a spate of attacks over recent weeks that ramped up security fears in Israel and the West Bank.
Prosecutors on Thursday also charged Nidal Yousef Younis Gabarin, 24, with attempted murder for stabbing an Israeli woman in Eilat three weeks ago. Younis, a resident of Eilat who is originally from Umm el-Fahm, was allegedly influenced by the recent wave of violence between Palestinians and Israel.
The indictment says that Gabarin sent a message to his family asking for forgiveness and stating that “if I’m lucky I’ll return.” He then took a kitchen knife and walked to an Eilat bus station, where he searched for a potential Jewish victim and then stabbed a 42-year-old woman in the back, lightly injuring her.
Gabarin was caught by the police soon after.
