Israel sentences Palestinian minor to life in prison for murder

An Israeli military court on Wednesday sentenced a Palestinian minor to life in prison for killing an Israeli woman, the army said.

"The Judea military court sentenced the assassin of Dafna Meir, who was killed by stabbing on January 17, 2016, to life in jail and to fines of 750,000 shekels" (about $196,000), the army said in a statement.

Murad Ideis, 15, was arrested in January in a raid on his family's home and charged with the murder of Dafna Meir, a 38-year-old mother of six.

The Israeli nurse died of her wounds after she was stabbed at her home in the Jewish settlement of Otniel in the occupied West Bank.

The army's statement did not mention Murad by name, but he was identified in previous news reports.

It said the army would "continue dispensing justice with the greatest of severity against those who carry out terrorist acts".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged at the time of the murder that the alleged assailant's home would be demolished as a deterrent.

In June, Israel's army demolished Murad's family's home in the West Bank town of Yatta.

Over the past year, Palestinians, many acting alone and often using rudimentary weapons and cars, have killed at least 35 Israelis and two visiting Americans in similar attacks.

During the same period, at least 225 Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers. Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out attacks, according to Israeli authorities. Others were shot dead during protests and clashes, while some were killed in air strikes in the Gaza Strip.

Most of the attacks were by lone-wolf assailants, many of them young people, including teenagers.