A terrorist who stabbed two police officers outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem two years ago has been sentenced to 35 years in prison.
The Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday handed down its sentence against Ayman Kurd, 23, of Hebron, who was convicted of two counts of attempted murder for his attack on a male and a female police officer near Herod's Gate on Sept. 19, 2016. The female officer was left paralyzed as a result of the attack.
The judge said the attack was ideologically motivated and Kurd had attempted to become a shahid ("martyr").
According to the indictment, Kurd set out for Jerusalem carrying a kitchen knife shortly after 6 a.m. and arrived at Damascus Gate around 7:15 a.m., where he took time to sit on a bench and listen to Quran verses, as well as write a farewell message to his father on Facebook.
At 7:30 a.m., he noticed the two Israeli officers, who were heading toward a nearby police station. He followed them toward Herod's Gate and pulled out his knife, stabbing the male officer in his upper back and neck several times.
He then knocked down the female officer and stabbed her in the neck a number of times, with enough force to break the knife's blade, which remained stuck in her spinal cord. The wounded male officer managed to fire several shots at the attacker, immobilizing him until he could be arrested.
In addition to the prison sentence, the court ordered Kurd to pay damages to the two officers.
Kurd was ordered to pay the female officer 258,000 shekels ($72,000) in damages. He will also have to pay the male officer NIS 70,000 ($19,500).
