Palestinian sentenced over Israeli killings

An Israeli military court has handed three life sentences to a Palestinian convicted of organizing the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers.

Hussam Hassan Kawasme was also ordered on Tuesday to pay $63,000 in compensation to each of the three families.

Kawasme was arrested in connection with organizing and financing the June 12 kidnapping of the three teenagers that triggered a series of events that led to a 50-day war in Gaza.  The bodies of the three Israelis were found three weeks later.

"The accused was convicted of the most serious crimes … the cold-blooded and terrible murder of three young people who were going home to their families," court documents said. "As a result of his actions, the accused is sentenced to three life terms. He will be removed from society and spend the rest of his life in prison."

His two accomplices, Amer Abu Eisha, 32, and Marwan Kawasme, 29, who carried out the attack, were both shot dead during an exchange of fire with the Israeli army in the southern West Bank city of Hebron in late September.

Israel blamed the bloodshed on Hamas, but although the group hailed the attack, it said the three were operating independently.

The abduction of the Jewish seminary students — Eyal Yifrach, 19, and 16-year-olds Gilad Shaer and Naftali Fraenkel — from a hitch-hiking stop near Hebron sparked a massive manhunt in which hundreds of Palestinians were arrested and at least five killed.

The operation triggered a surge in rocket fire from Gaza that ultimately led to a July-August war which left nearly 2,200 Palestinians dead, most of them civilians, and 73 dead in Israel, mostly soldiers.

Wire services