A court sentenced two young Israelis to life and 21 years in prison Thursday for the burning alive of a Palestinian teen, part of a cycle of violence that led up to the 2014 Gaza war.

The two Israelis were minors at the time of the chilling attack in which they and a third man snatched Mohammed Abu Khdeir, 16, from an east Jerusalem street and subsequently killed him.

Israeli settler Yosef Haim Ben-David, 31, is said to have led the attack on Abu Khdeir but his lawyers say he suffers from a mental illness and was not responsible for his actions at the time.

The court has found that he committed the crime but is yet to rule if he is mentally competent.

The two others were 16 when they were charged in 2014 but are now adults. They have not been identified because they were minors.

Life sentences were the maximum available to the court.

Source :AFP