Man to face charges for allegedly trying to set 12-year-old boy on fire on bus

Police say suspect poured gasoline on child, tried to set him alight, with aim of hurting his family due to spat with the boy’s father whom he knows from synagogue

By Charlie Summers

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11 February 2026, 8:31 pm

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A plastic bottle that a man allegedly used to pour gasoline on a 12-year-old boy in an arson attack on a bus heading to the Beitar Illit, due to a feud with the boy's family, February 1, 2026. (Israel Police)

Prosecutors are preparing to indict a man who allegedly tried to set a 12-year-old boy on fire as they traveled on a bus earlier this month, due to a feud with the child’s father, Israel Police said in a statement Wednesday.

While headed by bus to the ultra-Orthodox settlement of Beitar Illit on February 1, the suspect approached the boy and pulled out a large plastic bottle filled with gasoline, which he had purchased the night before from a gas station.

He doused the boy in the flammable liquid and then attempted to set him on fire with a pocket lighter, but was unsuccessful, police said. The boy sustained minor injuries to his arms as he tried to fend off his attacker.

Upon realizing what was going on, the driver stopped the bus to allow passengers to escape in case of a fire.

The suspect tried to flee the scene along with the passengers, but was caught by IDF forces and brought to the Etzion police station for interrogation.

Security camera footage of the bus’s rear door captured parts of the attack. In a video shared by police, an individual outside the frame drenches the boy and the surrounding area in liquid. Soon after, the boy is seen struggling against his concealed attacker in the right-hand margins of the clip.

Prosecutors to file charges against a man suspected of trying to set a 12-year-old boy on fire on a public bus, after an argument with his father pic.twitter.com/t3PEehU4S5

— charlie summers (@cbsu03) February 11, 2026

Police said the alleged arsonist, a resident of Jerusalem in his 30s, sought to harm the boy in order to get to his father, after relations between the two men soured.

The suspect originally plotted to kidnap the boy but gave up on the plan, deeming it too complex, they noted. Instead, he decided on the arson attack with the aim of causing anguish to the family of the other man, with whom he is acquainted from a synagogue in the area where they live, according to the statement.

The State Attorney’s Office is expected to indict the suspect by the end of the week. A prosecutor’s declaration was filed against the man on Tuesday, and he will remain in detention until at least Friday.