A military court has convicted a Palestinian man with US citizenship of murder for shooting dead a Jewish student in the West Bank, the Israel Defense Forces says.
The court “convicted the terrorist Muntasir Shalabi, based on his confession, of the crime of intentional manslaughter — equivalent to the offense of murder,” the IDF says.
In addition, Shalabi was convicted of “several counts of attempted intentional manslaughter, and possession of a weapon and obstruction of justice,” according to a military statement.
Shalabi, 44, was arrested by Israeli forces in May after he opened fire on passengers waiting at a bus stop at Tapuah junction, south of Nablus in the northern West Bank.
The attack killed Yehuda Guetta, 19, a student at a yeshiva in the Itamar settlement, and wounded two of his friends.
Yehuda Guetta, 19, was killed in a drive-by shooting in the West Bank (courtesy)
Last month, the IDF demolished Shalabi’s house in Turmus Ayya, a village northeast of the West Bank city of Ramallah.
The move was denounced by the United States, which said such demolitions “exacerbate tensions and undercut efforts to advance a negotiated two-state solution.”
Israel believes that demolishing the homes of assailants deters such attacks in the future, but critics denounce the practice as unjustified collective punishment.
Shalabi will be sentenced at a later date.
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