Teen daughter of Jerusalem terrorist released from custody

17-year-old who lauded father on Facebook after he killed 2 Israelis in shooting attack must stay out of Jerusalem, off social media

The teenage daughter of the Palestinian terrorist who killed two Israelis in northern Jerusalem before being killed by security forces on October 9, 2016 (YouTube screenshot)
The teenage daughter of the Palestinian terrorist who killed two Israelis in northern Jerusalem before being killed by security forces on October 9, 2016 (YouTube screenshot)

Israel on Sunday released from custody the teenage daughter of a Palestinian gunman who killed two Israelis in a Jerusalem terror attack last week.

Eiman Abu Sabih, 17, who was arrested on Monday after praising her father in a viral Facebook post, was freed on the condition that she stay out of Jerusalem for two months, not grant any media interviews or post on social media for an unspecified amount of time, and pay a fine of NIS 2,500 ($654), the Ynet news site reported.

The court decision to free Sabih, on the recommendation of the state prosecution, came against the wishes of the police, which wanted to indict her for incitement, Army Radio said.

The girl’s father, Mesbah Abu Sabih, a 39-year-old resident of Silwan in East Jerusalem, killed First Sergeant Yosef Kirma, 29, and a former Knesset worker, Levana Malihi, 60, during a shooting spree near Jerusalem’s Ammunition Hill on October 9. Six other people were injured before the gunman was shot dead by Israeli police.

“We deem my father as martyr,” the girl said in the video posted on her Facebook profile last week, according to the Palestinian Ma’an news agency. “We hope he will plead for us before God on judgment day. … I am proud of what my father did.

Mesbah Abu Sabih on the Temple Mount in an undated photograph. (Social media)
Mesbah Abu Sabih on the Temple Mount in an undated photograph. (Social media)

“We’re very happy and proud of our father,” she also said. “My father is a great man. Our relationship, as father and daughter, was excellent.”

The gunman was reportedly known to Israel Police as a suspected terrorist and member of Hamas for several years. He had previously spent a year in jail for incitement and was due, on the day of the shooting, to report to an Israeli prison to serve a four-month sentence for assaulting a police officer in 2013.

Jerusalem resident Levana Malihi, 60, left, and police officer First Sergeant Yosef Kirma, 29, who were shot dead in a terror attack in Jerusalem, October 9, 2016. (Police spokesperson)
Jerusalem resident Levana Malihi, 60, left, and police officer First Sergeant Yosef Kirma, 29, who were shot dead in a terror attack in Jerusalem, October 9, 2016. (Police spokesperson)

After the attack, photos showed Hamas supporters handing out candy and baklava to celebrate the attacker’s “martyrdom.” Candy in his honor was also handed out in East Jerusalem. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party also announced a day of mourning in his memory.

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