Israel jails Palestinian minor for life for murder

An Israeli military court on Wednesday sentenced a Palestinian minor to life in prison for killing an Israeli woman, the army said.

"The Judea military court sentenced the assassin of Dafna Meir, who was killed by stabbing on January 17, 2016, to life in jail and to fines of 750,000 shekels" (about $196,000/178,00 euros), the army said in a statement.



The 38-year-old Israeli nurse and mother of six died of her wounds after she was stabbed at her home in the Jewish settlement of Otniel in the occupied West Bank. The statement did not mention the name of the attacker because he was a minor.

It said the army would "continue dispensing justice with the greatest of severity against those who carry out terrorist acts". A wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks began a year ago, but the violence has significantly declined in recent months.

Since October last year, the violence has claimed the lives of 237 Palestinians, 36 Israelis, two Americans, a Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese, according to an AFP count.



Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out attacks, according to Israeli authorities. Others were shot dead during protests and clashes, while some were killed in air strikes in the Gaza Strip. Most of the attacks were by lone-wolf assailants, many of them young people, including teenagers.