Bus driver convicted fo murdering eight Israelis

A Palestinian bus driver who rammed his bus into a crowd of Israelis in February, killing eight and injuring 21, was convicted of murder today.

The Tel Aviv District Court found Khalil Abu Olbeh, 35, guilty of eight counts of premeditated murder and 21 counts of causing grievous bodily harm.

Abu Olbeh, who lives in Gaza City and had a work permit for Israel, had driven other Palestinian workers from Gaza to Tel Aviv when he saw a crowd of soldiers and civilians waiting at a bus stop at Azur, just south of Tel Aviv.

He turned his bus around, accelerated and crashed the vehicle into the crowd, killing seven soldiers and a woman civilian. Four of the dead soldiers were women.

It was the largest number of dead and injured in a single incident in more than seven months of Palestinian-Israeli fighting.

After ramming the Israelis, Abu Olbeh drove off at high speed, with police in pursuit. One of the officers shot him in the chest and he crashed the bus into a truck. Abu Olbeh was injured in the crash and had to have a leg amputated.

He told police he ran into the soldiers because he was angry over the killing of Palestinians by the Israeli army in the current fighting. ‘‘I saw the soldiers and I remembered what they are doing to us with tanks and helicopters and planes and missiles in Gaza,’’ he said .

The prosecution asked the court for a sentence eight consecutive life terms. Abu Olbeh’s lawyer said one life term was enough. The sentence is to be handed down on May 31.