An Israeli military court on Sunday sent to prison five relatives of a Palestinian attacker who killed three members of a family in a West Bank settlement in July.
The court gave the rare sentences after ruling that the relatives, including the attacker’s parents, knew about the intention of the assailant, Omar al-Abed, to commit a stabbing attack but failed to warn the Israeli authorities.
The court convicted them of not preventing the lethal stabbing carried out by al-Abed, 19, on the night of July 21.
Al-Abed sneaked into a home in the settlement of Halamish, north of Ramallah, and stabbed to death three family members, including a father, his daughter and his son.
The assailant’s father, Abd al-Jalil, was sentenced to two months in prison. His mother, Ibtisam, who told journalists that her son’s actions were understandable, was sentenced to a month in prison. Two of his brothers and an uncle were sentenced to eight months.
On July 16, Israeli authorities demolished the two-storey family home of al-Abed in the village of Kobar in the central West Bank.
Al-Abed was indicted on Thursday. He faces charges of three counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder.
(Xinhua)
