Israeli prosecutors urge life sentences for killers of Palestinian teen

Israeli prosecutors on Wednesday called for life sentences for two young Jews convicted last year of burning alive a Palestinian teen, part of an upsurge in violence ahead of the 2014 Gaza war.

Prosecutors made the request at a sentencing hearing in a Jerusalem court for the two, who were minors at the time of the chilling attack in which they and a third man snatched Mohammed Abu Khdeir, 16, from an east Jerusalem street and subsequently killed him.

Israeli settler Yosef Haim Ben-David, 31, is said to have led the attack on Abu Khdeir but his lawyers say he suffers from a mental illness and was not responsible for his actions at the time.

The court has found that he committed the crime but is yet to rule if he is mentally competent.

The two others were 16 when they were charged in 2014 but are now adults.

The court's actions are being closely watched at a time of renewed Israeli-Palestinian tensions. A wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks targeting Israelis began in October.

Photo: Hussein Abu Khdeir, the father of the slain Palestinian teen Muhammed Abu Khdeir, outside his home in East Jerusalem (Times Of Israel)