A member of the El Fatah terrorist gang, captured in a clash with an Israel patrol last January, has been sentenced to death by a military court, an Israeli spokesman announced last night. Under Israeli military court procedures, every capital punishment sentence must automatically be reviewed by the Military Court of Appeals and, if confirmed by that court, must then be confirmed by the Chief of Staff.
The Fatah member was identified as Mahmoud Bahar Muhammed Hedjazi, a Jordanian citizen. He was captured in a clash between the patrol and a group of Fatah infiltrators who tried last January 7 to sabotage a water tank of the Nehusha settlement in Lachish.
Hedjazi was condemned by a three-man court–including a lieutenant colonel who is a jurist in civilian life, another lieutenant colonel and one major–which found him guilty on four counts. These included sabotage, firing on Israeli soldiers and throwing hand grenades. Hedjazi admitted the charges but claimed that it was not he who was guilty but those who had sent him into Israel. His lawyer may appeal for clemency.
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