Group:

500 Palestinian Prisoners Now Serving Life Sentences in Israeli Custody

Rasa - A Palestinian was sentenced to life in prison on Sunday, making him the 500th Palestinian currently serving a life sentence in Israeli custody, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Center for Studies (PPCS) said.

News ID: 428319

Date: 21 March 2017 - 23:46

RNA - PPCS spokesman Riyad al-Ashqar said that the Israeli military Ofer court had sentenced Muhammad Abd al-Basit Hroub, a 23-year-old resident of the Hebron-area village of Deir Samit, to four life sentences and a 750,000-shekel ($206,900) fine for his involvement in a shooting attack in November 2015 which killed an Israeli settler, an American, and a Palestinian bystander, Ma'an reported.

Hroub’s home was punitively demolished by Israeli forces in February 2016.Al-Ashqar said that Hroub was the fifth Palestinian to have been handed a life sentence since the beginning of the year, adding that Israeli law defined life sentences as lasting 99 years.

Al-Ashqar identified the four other Palestinians as Muhammad Husni Abu Shahin, Abdullah Ishaq, Khalid Kutina, and Muhammad Abd al-Majid Amayreh.

Ma’an also reported the resentencing of Nael Barghouthi, the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner, to life in prison in February.

Israeli courts usually sentence Palestinians to life in prison when they are allegedly involved in deadly attacks against Israelis.According to prisoners’ rights group Addameer, 458 Palestinians were serving life sentences in Israeli custody as of January.

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