A 25-year-old Syrian man has been sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for throwing a Molotov cocktail at the Israeli embassy in The Hague in March, Dutch News reported on Tuesday.
The attacker, who was arrested minutes after the incident thanks to security camera footage, admitted to throwing an olive oil bottle filled with petrol and a lit piece of cloth at the building. The assault resulted in a fire on part of the embassy's facade and surrounding shrubbery but caused minimal damage, according to Dutch News.
During the trial, the man stated that his intention was to draw attention to the situation in Gaza. The Syrian-born suspect said to the court that he had personally experienced "children dying of hunger. It was a message to Israel: war is wrong, please stop." However, the court ruled that "he should have done this in a different, peaceful manner."
The court deemed the 2.5-year jail term appropriate due to the planned nature of the attack. Evidence revealed that three weeks prior to the incident, the perpetrator had traveled to The Hague with a bottle of petrol, intending to target the embassy, but ultimately did not carry out the act.
