Wednesday, September 23, 2026, 15:03 The Military Court in Yehuda imposed lenient sentences on three terrorists who threw Molotov cocktails late at night at a home in the Oz Tzion outpost in Binyamin, while settlers were asleep inside. The judges imposed a light sentence in part because they found the attacks were not motivated by religion or ideology, but by a land dispute. Following the lenient verdict, Honenu Attorney Chaim Bleicher asked the military prosecution to appeal for a harsher sentence.
The terrorists — Majd Halmi Musa Barkat, Mahmoud Sultan Khalil al-Nabat, and Jihad Ahmed Afun Baraka, all from the village of Burqa — were convicted of going to the outpost late at night on April 23, 2021. Each threw a Molotov cocktail at the structure where settlers were staying. At least one bottle entered the house and caught fire. Four settlers were sleeping inside at the time. They awoke only after the building was already burning and miraculously escaped the flames.
The panel, Judges Lieutenant Colonel Bella Gelfand, Major Ro’i Melinger, and Major Meir Arbel, sentenced the defendants to 70 months in prison from the date of their arrest, 16 months suspended, and 5,000 NIS in compensation to the victims. The sentence is extremely light. In practical terms, the terrorists are expected to be released soon.
The verdict stated: “I was not convinced that in this case it was established that the background to the acts was clearly nationalist, as is often the case. The indictment explicitly describes the background that led to the incident — trespassing — and the defendants’ purpose: revenge and damage to the caravan in response to that trespassing.”
The court also said the acts were not driven by religious or ideological motives: “The decision to act against settlers was, of course, made with clear knowledge that they were settlers. At the same time, it was not a decision formed because of their national or religious identity or on ideological grounds.”
In response, Attorney Bleicher submitted an urgent request to the military prosecution on behalf of the victims, asking it to appeal the sentences. The request argued: “Treating this cruel attack as an ordinary dispute, rather than as part of the broader campaign against the Jewish people in their land, is a serious blow to all Israeli citizens, to deterrence, and to the spirit of the people living in Zion. The prosecution should therefore appeal and demand a sentence at the maximum level, or at least in the upper third of the range set by law.”
Attorney Bleicher issued a statement: “The ruling ignores the true context of the attack — a serious attempt to burn an entire Jewish family, including babies in their beds. Only by a miracle was this not one of the worst terror attacks in Yehuda and Shomron. The court was wrong to give the terrorists such a light sentence. A land dispute does not reduce the cruelty of the attack in the slightest, nor the war we are in. We will press for an appeal and hope the Yehuda and Shomron Appeals Court will impose a severe sentence on the terrorists.”
Shlomo, one of the Oz Tzion residents who survived the arson attack;
Video credit: Oz Tzion