Palestinian terrorist sentenced to life for murdering 3

Bilal Abu Ghanem, the Palestinian terrorist who carried out the terror attack on a bus in Jerusalem in October, in which he murdered three Israelis, was sentenced on Monday to three life sentences with an additional 60 years.

Abu Ghanem, 21, who was convicted of three murders, seven attempted murders, and aiding an enemy in a time of war, was also ordered to pay NIS 250,000 in compensation to each of the victims’ families, NIS 150,000 to each of the wounded, and an additional NIS 100,000 to the bus driver.

He was convicted after the Jerusalem District Court rejected a plea bargain reached between the prosecution and Abu Ghanem’s lawyers, because the terrorist refused to respect the court and admit to his crimes.

Abu Ghanem, along with his accomplice Baha Aliyan, boarded a bus on October 13, 2015, with Abu Ghanem shooting at passengers and Aliyan stabbing them with a knife. When he ran out of ammunition and Aliyan broke his knife, the two continued strangling passengers with their bare hands until Border Police arrived at the scene, shooting them both and killing Aliyan.

The three victims were Haviv Haim, 78, Alon Govberg, 51 and Richard Lakin, 76, who also had US citizenship.

In January, Minister of Interior Aryeh Deri revoked Abu Ghanem’s residency status.

Also in January, Israeli forces demolished the Jerusalem homes of the two terrorists.