Jewish Terrorist Convicted of Murdering Teen Dies in Hospital

Yosef Ben-David, the security prisoner convicted of murdering Palestinian teenager Mohammed Abu Khdeir, died Thursday in a hospital after being evacuated for medical treatment. Ben-David, 42, from Jerusalem, was being held at the Sharon prison.

The Israel Prison Service stated that he died at the hospital, with his medical condition kept confidential. Initial reports suggest he died of a cardiac event. He was reportedly resuscitated at the prison before being transferred to the hospital, where his death was pronounced.

Mohammed Abu Khdeir, a 16-year-old Arab Muslim from Shuafat in East Jerusalem, was abducted on July 2, 2014, while on his way to morning prayers at his neighborhood mosque during Ramadan. His abductors, Ben-David and two minor nephews, beat him and forced him into a car, where they suffocated him until he lost consciousness. Initial autopsy results indicated Abu Khdeir suffered a head injury but died from severe burns.

Ben-David was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 20 years for the murder. He and two other convicted youths abducted and murdered Abu Khdeir the night after the funerals of Naftali Fraenkel, Gil-ad Shaar, and Eyal Yifrah. The murder was carried out in retaliation for the kidnapping and murder of the three Israeli teens in June 2014, prior to Operation Protective Edge.