A military tribunal in Lod sentenced two Fatah terrorists to life imprisonment and a third one to 15 years in jail. Four additional members of the terrorist group based in the Hebron area are due to be sentenced soon.
Taleb Talebiat, 30 and Zaharan Abu Kbeita, 28, who received the life sentences, and Mouhammed Shitriet, 37, who was sentenced to 15 years, were found guilty of committing a series of acts of sabotage, including placing bombs near the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem and at a number of other sites in the city, blowing up part of a railway line to Jerusalem which caused the derailment of a train, blowing up and setting fire to the Haifa-Beersheba oil pipeline causing a several hour delay in the flow of oil supply and placing explosives in an oil tanker in Jerusalem.
Talebiat and Kbeita pleaded guilty to the charges but claimed the actions were carried out on political grounds. When they tried to explain the political basis they were interrupted by the tribunal’s president, Lt. Col. Aharon Alpern, who said this was not relevant. Shitriet received a lighter sentence because he claimed he acted under threats.
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