‘I’m sorry I didn’t kill him’: Suspected leak of intimate images led to brutal ambush of 17-year-old

A violent incident that ended in the murder of a man in his 40s, Ramla, May 31, 2026 / MDA

The Central District Juvenile Court today, Wednesday, allowed for publication of an indictment filed by the Central District Prosecutor’s Office against four minors aged 13 to 16 from central Israel, including two girls, who brutally attacked another boy, about 17, over what was described as a “settling of accounts.”

According to the indictment filed by attorney Ariel Sini of the Central District Prosecutor’s Office, the 15-year-old defendant decided to harm the complainant after suspecting that he intended to pass her intimate photos and videos to her partner, who is also charged in the indictment. She conspired with the other defendants, and they all came together near the complainant’s home in central Israel. The defendant asked the complainant under false pretenses to come out so they could talk.

While they were talking in the street, the other female defendant called over the two boys, one of whom has knowledge and skill in martial arts and Thai boxing, and they pounced on the complainant and beat him brutally with kicks and punches to every part of his body. The defendants continued beating and kicking him even after he collapsed and while he was lying on the ground, bleeding. The prosecution said the defendants acted with “complete lack of restraint” and displayed “exceptional cruelty.” / Reuven Castro

During all this time, the two female defendants watched what was happening, while one of them documented the severe assault on a mobile phone. At the point when the complainant was struggling to breathe, one of the minors ordered him to apologize to the defendant, but he refused. The defendants took the complainant’s mobile phone and fled the scene, leaving him injured and bleeding heavily.

The complainant was rushed to Schneider Hospital, where he was hospitalized in the pediatric intensive care unit with serious injuries. Three of the defendants were arrested shortly after the incident, while the fourth was on the run until he was located about a month and a half later. While fleeing from the police, he wrote to another defendant on the Telegram messaging app that he regretted not killing the complainant, because then they would not have discovered him. He also asked the other defendants to delete the footage of the attack and the messages related to the incident.

The prosecution asked the court to order the minors held in custody until the end of the legal proceedings against them. In the detention request, the prosecution said they acted together with complete lack of restraint, in the manner of a “planned ambush,” and displayed exceptional cruelty when they took the law into their own hands and imposed terror in order to “settle accounts” with the complainant.

It was further noted that “this was not a spontaneous incident, but a planned and cold attack, intended to instill fear and cause the most severe bodily harm. Leaving the minor injured and dazed, gasping and choking on his own blood, without summoning medical help, indicates complete insensibility and deep contempt for human life.” The indictment attributes to the defendants, acting together, offenses including aggravated assault with intent, theft, conspiracy, and more.