The District Court in Haifa ruled that an Arab who participated in the brutal lynching of Mordechai Katz in Acre during the "Operation Guardian of the Walls" and threw stones at him from point-blank range is not guilty of attempted murder but rather of severe injury. Attorney Chaim Bleicher, representing the victim's, stated: "The facts of the case are clear to the judges, and the actions of the accused are unambiguous. We expect that a severe punishment will be imposed on the terrorist during the sentencing phase"