Israeli court jails 3 Palestinians from Jerusalem

By Fatima Abu Sbitan

JERUSALEM (AA) – An Israeli court has jailed three Palestinians from the city of Jerusalem for an alleged shooting plot, according to a defense lawyer on Tuesday.

The Central District Court sentenced Mohammed Abu Khudair and Omar Maatouk to six years and a half in prison each for allegedly planning to carry out a shooting attack on settlers, Mohammad Hamoud told Anadolu Agency.

The court also slapped a third Jerusalemite, Abbas al-Salhi, with a six-year jail term on similar charges, he said.

Israeli authorities have jailed dozens of Palestinian youths for alleged attacks against Israelis since Oct. 2015.

Israeli forces rounded up 6,489 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2018, according to the Commission of Detainees and Ex-detainees Affairs.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the decades-long Middle East conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- occupied by Israel since 1967 -- might one day serve as the capital of a Palestinian state.