And David went up by the ascent of the mount of Olives, and wept as he went up; and he had his head covered, and went barefoot; and all the people that were with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up. (2 Samuel 15:30)

Thousands of grief-stricken Israelis gathered at the Nazereth Illit military cemetery on Wednesday for the burial of 18 year old Eden Atias, who was stabbed to death while sleeping on a bus by a Palestinian youth earlier that day.

Earlier Wednesday, some 150 people protested outside the Afula Bus Station where Atias had been stabbed in the neck repeatedly. The gathering, according to The Times of Israel, was to protest the government’s handling of the current peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. The objectors noted that this was simply the latest in a long line of attempted and executed terrorist attacks since the talks had begun in July.

Eye witnesses told authorities that Atias had been asleep when he was attacked by the terrorist. The Palestinian youth was captured by other bus passengers and handed over to authorities.

“The bus stopped and people had stepped out,” an eyewitness who gave her name as Yaffa told Channel 2. “A female soldier was left on the bus, along with the soldier [who was stabbed] and the terrorist. Suddenly the female soldier started screaming for help, she ran outside, she was shaking. The terrorist had stabbed the soldier, he was covered in blood.”

Atias had enlisted in the IDF just two weeks ago and was still in the midst of basic training. He was survived by his parents and two brothers, aged 24 and 18. His mother, Ilia, was quoted by Walla as saying that he had insisted on volunteering for a combat unit.

The attacker is a 16-year-old Palestinian resident of Jenin. “We heard shouting in the bus, and screaming,” Tomer, a worker at a nearby kiosk who witnessed the attack, told Yedioth Ahronoth. “Soldiers then jumped [the attacker], I saw them take him off the bus and then security guards waited with him. He looked like a child.”

The assailant, according to Israel Radio, told his interrogators that he sought to avenge two of his family members who are jailed in Israel for terrorist activities. The killer said he was enraged by the fact that his extended family was not allowed to visit his relatives.

In response to the stabbing, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said peace cannot occur if this type of Palestinian incitement continues.

“Surrounding the murderer is an education system, official Palestinian Authority newspapers, mosques and other places in Palestinian society that are full of incitement,” Netanyahu said. “If we want real peace, the incitement has to stop.”