Ayman Kurd
Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg
Terrorist Ayman Kurd, who stabbed and critically wounded
a female police officer near Herod's Gate in Jerusalem's Old City, was convicted Tuesday of two counts of attempted murder.
According to the indictment, after the death of his cousin in a shooting in Hebron, Kurd, 21, from Kafr 'Aqab, decided in September 2016 to "carry out a sacrificial attack and die a martyr's death."
To that end, he wrote several wills meant for his family and friends, urging them to celebrate his death.
Kurd then took a knife from his home, made his way to the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City, and spent about 15 minutes sitting on a bench and listening to quotes from the Quran via earphones.
He was looking for a soldier or a police officer in order to stab them, while at the same time writing a goodbye message to his father on Facebook.
When he noticed two police officers walking on their way to the Shalem Police Station near Herod's Gate, he followed them.
As he got near them, he jumped officer Koby Krudo from behind, stabbing him in his upper body and neck several times.
Kurd then knocked officer Tzipi Yaakobiyan to the ground and stabbed her in the neck multiple times.
Yaakobiyan was paralyzed as a result of the attack. "I have no feeling in my legs, my back, and my chest. My hands are very weak," she told the court during the terrorist's trial.