JERUSALEM: A Jerusalem court convicted two Israeli minors on Monday of the kidnapping and burning alive of a Palestinian teenager in the run-up to last year’s Gaza war, while a third defendant’s mental state will be evaluated.

The 31-year-old, viewed as the ringleader, was found to have committed the crime, but the court held off on convicting him after his lawyers submitted a report in recent days arguing his mental state meant he was not responsible for his actions.

Sentencing for the two who were convicted was set for Jan 13, while a hearing was scheduled for Dec 20 for the third defendant, Yosef Haim Ben-David, from the Adam settlement in the occupied West Bank.

Mohammed Abu Khdeir, 16, was abducted and killed on July 2, 2014, weeks after the kidnap and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank. The incidents were part of a spiral of violence that led to a 50-day war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Palestinian militants.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2015