Two terrorists from Hebron, now both aged 19, who on the eve of Passover 2024, just hours before the Seder night, carried out a combined ramming and attempted shooting attack in Jerusalem in which three people were injured, were sentenced on Wednesday this week to 28 years in prison each.
On the morning of April 22, 2024, shortly before 8:00 a.m., the two terrorists, Muataz Ulma and Hatem Qawasmi, arrived in a white vehicle on Techelet Mordechai Street in the Romema neighborhood of Jerusalem. The terrorists accelerated their car toward a group of ultra-Orthodox pedestrians who were burning chametz on the sidewalk at the time and rammed into three of them. The force of the impact threw the pedestrians several meters, and three young men were injured. One of the injured, aged 18, suffered a head injury and was listed in moderate condition. The other two were lightly injured, mainly sustaining injuries to their limbs and faces. The injured were evacuated to Shaare Zedek Medical Center and Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem, and were released to their homes after a short recovery period.
Findings of the investigation showed that the two planned the attack in advance, motivated by religious and nationalist reasons. They purchased a vehicle that had been taken off the road and equipped themselves with an improvised “Carlo” weapon and ammunition. The terrorists’ goal was to carry out a combined attack – ramming a large group of Jews and then opening fire at survivors in order to maximize casualties. Footage from the scene showed the terrorists exiting the vehicle after the collision and attempting to shoot at fleeing civilians. A weapon malfunction prevented a mass-casualty attack on the eve of the holiday.
When was the indictment filed against the terrorists behind the Passover attack in Jerusalem?
In May 2024, about a month after the attack, the Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office filed a severe indictment against the two at the city’s District Court. The indictment included charges of terrorist acts of attempted murder, use of a weapon to carry out a terrorist act, and aggravated assault. On Wednesday, the two terrorists were sentenced, as stated, to lengthy prison terms. In addition, they were ordered to pay compensation of 200,000 shekels each to the victims.
