513 Palestinians Sentenced to Life in Israeli Prisons

TEHRAN (Defapress)- The Arabic-language Arab 48 news website quoted as reporting the Palestinian Prisoners' Centre for Studies (PPC) on Monday that the number increased after an Israeli court sentenced on Thursday two Palestinians to life in prison after it found them guilty of killing an Israeli in 2017.

Mohammad Yousef Abu al-Rob and Yousef Khaled Kmail, both from Qabatia, a town in Northern West Bank, were detained in October 2017 and charged with killing an Israeli at a city in Northern Israel.

In addition to the life sentence, each was also fined 258,000 Israeli shekels ($70,600).

Israeli law defines a life sentence as a 99-year term of imprisonment.

Over 6,000 Palestinians are currently imprisoned in 22 Israeli prisons; around 550 are being held under administrative detention orders without charge. Almost 60 Palestinian women and girls are held by Israel, along with 350 boys and 12 Members of Parliament.

Israel is known to regularly abuse and torture Palestinian prisoners, including children and those on hunger strike, many of whom have been sentenced to decades in jail, even if not for life.

Israel’s detention and treatment of Palestinian prisoners has been criticized by numerous human rights organizations. The Amnesty International has condemned Israel’s use of administrative detention against Palestinian rights activists.

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