Palestinian gets 2 life sentences in fatal stabbing of Jewish woman

Marcy Oster

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Palestinian from Hebron was sentenced to two life terms in prison for murdering a Jewish woman in the West Bank.

Maher al-Hashlamoun, 30, was sentenced on Thursday in a military court in the stabbing death of Dalia Lemkos, 26. Al-Hashlamoun also was also ordered to pay more than $1 million in compensation to the victim’s family.

Lemkos, of Tekoa, was waiting for a ride at the junction in the Gush Etzion bloc in November when al-Hashlamoun pulled up in his car and stabbed her and two other bystanders. The assailant was shot by a guard at the entrance to the Alon Shvut settlement and treated at a Jerusalem hospital.

According to the indictment, al-Hashlamoun stabbed his victims after originally planning to kill Jews by running over them with his car, The Jerusalem Post reported. But the vehicle was damaged after hitting a rock.

The attack took place in the same junction from where three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped in June. Nearly three weeks later, the teens were found dead near Hebron.