Israeli court gives Palestinian man double life sentence
Israeli court gives Palestinian man double life sentence
Ziad Awad who was accused of killing a senior Israeli policeman and wounding his wife and child has been sentenced to two life terms in prison.
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Israeli forces have been accused of using disproportionate force against alleged Palestinian attackers [Anadolu]
An Israeli military court on Monday sentenced a Palestinian man accused of killing an Israeli policeman three years ago to two life terms in prison, the military announced.
The Ofer court, based in the occupied West Bank, found Ziad Awad guilty of internationally causing the death of Baruch Mizrahi by shooting at his car on April 14, 2014 near Hebron in the occupied territory.
The court also accused Awad of wounding the policeman's wife and child during the alleged attack, for which he was sentenced to pay a compensation of 275,000 shekels ($77,000).
The same court also sentenced Awad's son, Izz al-Din, to 20 years in jail on Monday as well as a payment of 325,000 shekels ($92,000) for helping his father plan and carry out the alleged attack.
The city of Hebron and its environs is home to 200,000 Palestinians. Around 700 Israelis have established settlements there, which the international community has deemed illegal.
Their presence as well as Israeli-imposed restrictions on Palestinians in the West Bank have sparked frequent violence, which has seen more than 300 Palestinians killed since October 2015.
Israel says that most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks. However, its forces have been accused of using disproportionate force against alleged Palestinian attackers.
Other Palestinians have also been shot dead in protests and clashes, while some were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.
The violence had greatly subsided in recent months, but tension around the highly sensitive al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City saw a spike in July.
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