Palestinian man handed life sentence for role in deadly 2016 shooting attack

An Israeli military court sentences a Palestinian man to life plus 32 years in prison over his involvement in a 2016 shooting attack in Jerusalem that killed a border policewoman.

Bilal Abu Zeid was convicted of supplying a gun and driving the attackers who killed Hadar Cohen, 19. He is also ordered to pay NIS 1.5 million ($430,000) to Cohen’s family, and an additional NIS 250,000 ($72,000) to another policewoman wounded in the attack.

Abu Zeid was not present during the attack itself, since he “wanted to stay alive and kill Jews,” military prosecutors quoted him as saying.

He had been convicted of intentionally causing the death of Cohen, as well as a series of security offenses. The main charge is equivalent to murder in the West Bank military court.

The court accepted the prosecution’s position that Abu Zeid was guilty of the attack due to his involvement in the planning and execution, even though he was not present at the time of the shooting.