Gas balloons (illustration)
Gas balloons (illustration)Flash 90

The Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday morning sentenced the Arab terrorist Aziz Awisat to 30 years in jail, after he cut gas pipes in Jewish buildings in Jerusalem in an attempt to cause a lethal explosion.

Awisat also tried to murder a Jewish man - Nachum Vispish - with an ax in April 2012 on Jerusalem's Haneviim Street, and critically wounded the man.

Vispish was saved from certain death by turning towards Awisat as he attacked him, causing the terrorist to fall over.

Awisat, a 48-year-old father of six and resident of the Jabel Mukaber neighborhood located next to the Jewish neighborhood Armon Hanatziv in southeastern Jerusalem, was found guilty on ten counts of attempted murder.

The terrorist cut the pipes of two sets of gas balloons in Armon Hanatziv last March, causing dozens of residents to be evacuated out of fears of an imminent blast that was defused by intense efforts.

He cut the main gas lines in two buildings; in one, he went further and lit a candle adjacent to the building in an effort to set off a blast. He also conducted similar gas explosion attempts by cutting lines in the southern neighborhood of Gilo.

Under interrogation Awisat said that he wished to carry out a large scale terror attack in response to Israel's policy toward Gaza, the ascent of Jews to the Temple Mount, and Israel's "harming" Islam.

He also admitted to the ax attack in 2012, saying he is sorry that he did not succeed in murdering his victim.