The Palestinian teenager who murdered Dafna Meir, a mother of six, in her West Bank home was sentenced to life in prison.
The teen, who was 16 at the time of the murder, was sentenced Wednesday by a West Bank military court that also ordered him to pay nearly $200,000 to the family in compensation. The court also recommended that authorities prevent an early release due to the unusually cruel nature of the crime.
He was arrested two days after the Jan. 17 murder in Otniel and confessed to the killing during an interrogation, the Shin Bet security service said at the time of his arrest. He was indicted in February and convicted in May of murder and illegal possession of a weapon.
Meir, 38, was stabbed to death at the entrance of her home while fighting off her attacker in what is believed to have been an attempt to save three of her children in the house. She was the mother of four children and foster mother of two young children. Her 17-year-old daughter was able to give security officials a description of the assailant, who fled after he was unable to remove the knife from Meir’s body.
The teen watched Palestinian television broadcasts that incited against Israel and said Israel was “killing young Palestinians” before he allegedly committed the crime, the Shin Bet said.
The teen returned home after the murder and spent the evening with his family watching a movie, according to the indictment.
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