The funeral of 16-year-old Muhammad Abu Khdeir. Yosef Haim Ben-David was sentenced to life in prison for killing the teenager. Photo: YouTube Screenshot.

JNS.org – A Jerusalem court has sentenced the killer of 16-year-old Palestinian Muhammad Abu Khdeir to life in prison. Yosef Haim Ben-David was convicted last month of killing the teenager in 2014. Abu Khdeir’s death contributed to a series of events that led to that summer’s war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

The 30-year-old Ben-David, along with two underage accomplices, abducted, bludgeoned and burned Abu Khdeir alive. The three perpetrators later said that the crime was in revenge for the kidnapping and murder of Israeli Jewish teenagers Gilad Shaar, Eyal Yifrach and Naftali Frenkel by Palestinians. Ben-David was sentenced to life in prison with an additional 20 years for other counts to be served consecutively. His accomplices were sentenced back in February to life in prison for one and 21 years in prison for the other.

Ben-David’s state prosecutor said that the damage from his crime was “irreparable” both for the victim’s Palestinian family and for Israel. Hussein Abu Khdeir, the father of the murdered teen, said he wanted to “see” Ben-David “die in prison,” the Associated Press reported.