Palestinian bus attacker facing 28 years in prison

A Palestinian man who stabbed 12 people on a Tel Aviv bus was convicted after accepting a plea bargain.

Hasan Matrouk, 23, from the West Bank city of Tulkarem, was convicted Tuesday in Tel Aviv District Court. Under the terms of the plea, he could receive a sentence of 28 years in prison, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Matrouk had entered Israel illegally in January and stabbed passengers and the driver on the bus.

He said under questioning that he perpetrated the attack due to anger over Israel’s operation in Gaza last summer and unrest on the Temple Mount.