Two Palestinian men have been sentenced to life plus 30 years for shooting dead an Israeli security guard who used his body to shield his fiancee.
Vyacheslav Golev, 23, died in a hail of bullets protecting his colleague and fiancee Victoria Fligelman in the West Bank settlement of Ariel last year.
The couple reportedly worked together as security guards and would often share shifts.
An Israeli military court sentenced Youssef Sameeh Assi and Yahya Marei to life in prison plus 30 years on Wednesday, 31st May, for the deadly attack on 29th April 2022.
Assi and Marei were found guilty of intentionally causing Golev’s death and of the attempted murder of Fligelman.
Prosecutors said they had decided to carry out the deadly attack after hearing about clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli security forces.
The defendants bought Carlo submachine guns, improvised guns that are manufactured in small workshops in the Palestinian territories, along with a vehicle, before carrying out the deadly attack.
They were arrested in their hometown of Qarawat Bani Hassan, one day later, on 30th April 2022.
Golev was the eldest of eight brothers and sisters from a family near Bet Shemesh, a city near Jerusalem, according to local media.
Assi and Marei were jailed for life plus 30 years and were ordered to pay NIS 3 million (GBP 645,000) to Golev’s and Fligelman’s families.
The Israeli Defense Forces demolished Assi’s and Marei’s homes in July 2022, with local media saying that Israel demolishes the homes of Palestinians accused of carrying out deadly terrorist attacks as a matter of policy.
