A District court on Thursday, October 24, 2019, has convicted the defendant in the Dura arson trial of membership in a terrorist organization. The Jewish defendant in the case was a minor at the time of the attack, 17, and therefore, his identity may not be published. The young man signed a plea bargain agreement a few months ago in which the prosecution retracted most of the counts in the indictment against him. The prosecution is expected to seek a prison term of 5.5 years on the conviction of belonging to a terrorist organization.

In May 2019, YWN-Israel reported that the murder charges against the young defendant had been dropped and the Lod District Court in July 2019 instructed the state of retract additional charges in the indictment.

Members of the Darawshe family living in the PA (Palestinian Authority) village of Duma were killed when their home was firebombed, an attack that began as a hate crime perpetrated by Jews against Palestinians, an attack that occurred in July 2015.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)