Thirteen-year-old Ahmed Mansra, who together with his cousin stabbed and critically wounded an Israeli boy in Jerusalem earlier in October, was charged with two counts of attempted murder on Friday.
Mansra made headlines when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas claimed in an Oct. 14 speech that the boy had been “executed” by Israel. In reality, he was being treated at an Israeli hospital.
On Oct. 12, Mansra and his 15-year-old cousin stabbed a man, 20, who was walking along a Pisgat Ze’ev street, and then a boy, 13, as he was getting on his bicycle after exiting a candy shop. Both victims survived the attack.
The indictment said Mansra had met his cousin, Hassan, on his way home from school that day. The two “talked about the situation at Al-Aqsa mosque, the living conditions in Gaza, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, and decided to be shahids (martyrs)—to be killed in the battle for Islam by way of committing a stabbing attack in an effort to kill Jews,” the indictment said.
The prosecution is expected to face a number of legal hurdles in prosecuting Ahmed Mansra because Israeli law does not allow courts to hand down prison sentences to children under the age of 14. Since Mansra will turn 14 in January, the prosecution is considering delaying the trial.