Jerusalem: A Jerusalem court convicted a 14-year-old Palestinian on Tuesday of the attempted murder of two Israelis in a knife attack last October that was one of the most high-profile of a recent wave of violence.
The Jerusalem District Court also found Ahmed Manasra guilty of inflicting severe injury in the attack he carried out at the age of 13 along with a 15-year-old cousin, officials said.
The two stabbed and seriously wounded a 20-year-old and a 12-year-old boy in the Jewish settlement neighborhood of Pisgat Zeev in annexed east Jerusalem.
Hassan, the cousin, was shot dead by security forces, while Ahmed was hit by a car as they fled.
Separately, a leader of the international boycott movement against Israel is accusing Israeli authorities of imposing a travel ban on him.
Omar Barghouti says Israel told him last month that it was not renewing a permit that allows him to travel abroad. As a permanent resident of Israel, he does not hold a passport and instead requires special permission to travel.
Barghouti says the decision is “absolutely” political. Israel’s interior minister told a conference in March that he was considering revoking Barghouti’s residency status.
The ministry said Tuesday that there is evidence that Barghouti’s “center of life” is in the West Bank, not Israel, and his residency is under review.
Israel has identified the BDS movement, which calls for boycotts, divestment and sanctions, as a major threat.
Meanwhile, Jordan’s foreign minister says that Palestinian statehood is the most important issue now facing the world and that it fuels extremism gripping the Mideast.
Nasser Judeh made the comment on Tuesday at the Arab Media Forum, an event taking place in Dubai, the commercial hub of the United Arab Emirates.
Judeh says the “Palestinian cause represents the essence of the conflicts and crises in the region.”
He added that “every day of delay where the international community does not exert pressure toward reaching a fair and just settlement of the Palestinian cause, will lead to another day of darkness where the forces of extremism and terrorism can act. Then humanity as a whole will pay the price.”
In a separate development, two masked attackers stabbed two Israeli women taking a walk in a Jerusalem forest on Tuesday, police said, setting off a manhunt to capture the assailants.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said five women were walking along a Jerusalem promenade near the “Peace Forest” when they were attacked from behind. Two of them, both said to be about 70 years of age, were stabbed and were taken to a hospital with moderate injuries.