A 25-year-old Syrian man has been sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for firebombing the Israeli Embassy in The Hague in March, Dutch News reported on Tuesday.
The attacker, who was arrested minutes after the incident thanks to security camera footage, admitted to hurling a fire bomb at the building. The assault set part of the embassy’s facade and surrounding shrubbery on fire but caused minimal damage, according to Dutch News.
During the trial, the man stated that he wanted to draw attention to the situation in Gaza. The Syrian-born suspect told the court that he had personally experienced “children dying of hunger. It was a message to Israel: War is wrong, please stop.” However, the court ruled that “he should have done this in a different, peaceful manner.”
The court deemed the 2.5-year jail term appropriate due to the planned nature of the attack. Evidence revealed that three weeks prior to the incident, the perpetrator had traveled to The Hague with a bottle of petrol, intending to target the embassy, but ultimately did not carry out the act.
Originally published by Israel Hayom.
