Palestinian convicted of murder for 2018 car-ramming attack that killed 2 IDF soldiers

The Israeli military has convicted a Palestinian man of murder for ramming his car into a group of IDF soldiers in 2018, killing two.

Ala Qabha, was convicted of two counts of “intentionally causing death” — the equivalent of murder under military law — and two counts of attempting to intentionally cause death.

Qabha rammed his car into the group of soldiers on March 16, 2018, outside a military post in the northern West Bank, near the Mevo Dotan settlement, killing Sgt. Netanel Kahalani, and Capt. Ziv Daos and seriously injuring two others. The army later designated the car-ramming a terror attack.

The following day, the Shin Bet security agency said Qabha had confessed to carrying out the attack. It said Qabha had initially claimed the incident was an accident, but later changed his story and said it was deliberate and that he intended to murder soldiers.

The IDF says Qabha passed the group of soldiers, spontaneously decided he wanted to attack them, and turned back to run them over at a speed of around 70 kilometers per hour.

An initial sentencing hearing will take place on September 11, the IDF says.

Kahalani’s and Daos’s families have been updated on the developments in the case.