Israeli Youth Sentenced to 13 Years for Terror-Motivated Killing of Palestinian Woman

An Israeli court on Wednesday sentenced a young Israeli man, identified only as "Tz," to 13 years in prison for the terror-motivated manslaughter of Aisha al-Rabi, a 43-year-old Palestinian mother of eight from the village of Bidya in Samaria. Tz was a minor at the time of the incident in October 2018.

Tz was convicted of the act in March, following an indictment filed in 2019 when he was 16. Prosecutors alleged that he threw a roughly two-kilogram rock at the car carrying al-Rabi, her husband, and their nine-year-old daughter. The prosecution decided at the time to charge him with manslaughter rather than murder. The key evidence against him was his DNA found on the rock that struck the victim.

The Israeli-Palestinian Bereaved Families Forum, which includes Aisha's husband Yaakov al-Rabi, stated at the time of the conviction that "precisely in these days, when settler terrorism is reaching new heights, Yaakov is finally receiving justice. Nothing will bring Aisha back to her family, but the recognition of the crime and bringing the perpetrator to justice are an important step. When settler terrorism is not enforced by the law authorities, it continues, and more Palestinian families are harmed."