Palestinian teen jailed for 18 years for 2023 killing of Border Police officer at checkpoint

The Jerusalem District Court sentences a Palestinian minor to 18 years in prison for the killing of a Border Police officer two years ago, a Justice Ministry spokesperson says.

The court convicted Muhammad Zalbani, who was 13 years old at the time, of aggravated murder for stabbing Staff Sgt. Asil Sawaed, 22 at a checkpoint near the Shuafat refugee camp.

According to the verdict, Zalbani found a knife at his aunt’s house in the Shuafat camp, and took it with him on a bus that passes through the nearby checkpoint.

The teen sat at the back of the bus, placed the knife near his leg to be able to draw it quickly, and waited for security forces to board for a routine inspection.

When officers boarded the bus to check passengers, Zalbani repeatedly stabbed Sawaed in the head and neck, the verdict reads.

A civilian security officer who boarded the bus with Sawaed opened fire at Zalbani, but accidentally hit the wounded border cop in the thigh.

Sawaed died on the way to the hospital due to excessive bleeding.

“There is no doubt that the defendant’s actions brought about, in an indirect manner, the shooting of the deceased by the security guard,” says the court in its ruling.