Three Relatives Sentenced for Murder of Pregnant Aya Abu Hajaj in Lod

The victim's paternal half-brother, who was 14.5 years old at the time of the crime, was sentenced to 22 years in prison, while her cousin, who was 15.5 years old, received a 17-year sentence, both having been convicted of joint murder under aggravating circumstances. Her father was sentenced to 15 years in prison for aiding and abetting the murder. The court also ordered the three defendants to pay over 300,000 shekels in compensation to the victim's children.

According to the indictment, the murder was motivated by Abu Hajjaj's refusal to return to live with her father and his family in Hura, a decision in which she and her sisters supported their mother. The two minors, masked and armed with knives, lay in wait near her home. As she left in the morning to take her four and five-year-old children to kindergarten, her half-brother emerged from a vehicle and stabbed her approximately 20 times, continuing the assault even after she fell to the ground. Medical teams were unable to save her or her unborn child.