A court in Israel today jailed Muhammad Abed al-Jaffer Nasser Mafarja, 19, for 25 years after he bombed a bus in  in 2012. Two people received significant injuries in the explosion, which also wounded eight others and sent fourteen victims into shock. Mafarja was under 18 at the time of the attack. He placed the device on the bus after rejecting several others he rode on as insufficiently crowded, according to the prosecution. He then left the bus and phoned a co-conspirator, who detonated it remotely. The remains of a bombed orphanage and mosque in Gaza, during hostilities in 2009. Mafarja was convicted on his own plea last December in a deal which spared him a possible life sentence by dropping a charge of aiding an enemy at a time of war. The bombing was during a brief war between Israel and Gaza and was designed to convince the  to withdraw. Later that day an unrelated ceasefire was brokered by Egypt. Other alleged members of Mafarja's cell, which was based in the and  areas, have been indicted. Prosecutors claim political assassinations and suicide attacks were planned. Palestinian Ahmed Moussa, a  resident, is presently on trial over the bus bombing; he is accused of triggering the device. Mohammed Assi was shot dead by Israeli authorities during an attempted arrest. A fourth suspect, Ahmad Salah Ahmad Musa, 25 and of Beit Likya, was indicted in January.
A court in Israel today jailed Muhammad Abed al-Jaffer Nasser Mafarja, 19, for 25 years after he bombed a bus in Tel Aviv in 2012. Two people received significant injuries in the explosion, which also wounded eight others and sent fourteen victims into shock. Mafarja was under 18 at the time of the attack. He placed the device on the bus after rejecting several others he rode on as insufficiently crowded, according to the prosecution. He then left the bus and phoned a co-conspirator, who detonated it remotely. The remains of a bombed orphanage and mosque in Gaza, during hostilities in 2009. Mafarja was convicted on his own plea last December in a deal which spared him a possible life sentence by dropping a charge of aiding an enemy at a time of war. The bombing was during a brief war between Israel and Gaza and was designed to convince the Israel Defence Forces to withdraw. Later that day an unrelated ceasefire was brokered by Egypt. Other alleged members of Mafarja's cell, which was based in the and Ramallah areas, have been indicted. Prosecutors claim political assassinations and suicide attacks were planned. Palestinian Ahmed Moussa, a West Bank resident, is presently on trial over the bus bombing; he is accused of triggering the device. Mohammed Assi was shot dead by Israeli authorities during an attempted arrest. A fourth suspect, Ahmad Salah Ahmad Musa, 25 and of Beit Likya, was indicted in January.
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Tel Aviv
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Israel Defence Forces
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Ramallah
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West Bank