Jerusalem, 20 October, 2016 (TPS) -- The Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office filed an indictment on Thursday against Ayman Kurd, a  20-year-old from Kafr ‘Aqab, a Palestinian neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem. Kurd was charged with two counts of attempted murder for a stabbing attack near Damascus Gate on September 19.

The indictment says the defendant was angry and frustrated following the death of a cousin during a shooting incident in Hebron. Investigators said Kurd had told family members earlier this year that he intended to become a martyr.

Kurd’s attack was one of six during a weekend leading up to the Jewish High Holidays, amongst them four stabbings, a car ramming and several rock attacks. At the time, Dr. Shaul Bartal of the Middle East Department at Bar Ilan University explained that the holiday season is often accompanied by an escalation of violence. Bartal referred to a annual conference headed by Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement. Salah often calls for ‘resistance’ to Israel and accuses Jews of planning to “desecrate” the al-Aqsa mosque, a charge that often leads to violence.

The prosecution asked the court to detain the defendant until the legal proceedings against him are completed.