Last update - 00:00 26/11/2007
Hebron man gets 18 life sentences for role in Be'er Sheva bombing
By Ofra Edelman and Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondents
An Israel Defense Forces court on Monday sentenced a Hebron man to 18 life sentences for constructing the explosive belts used in the double suicide attack on two buses in Be'er Sheva in August 2004.
Sixteen people were killed in the attack and at least 100 others wounded.
Iyad Abu Shidam was also convicted of building the explosive belts worn in the attempted bombing of the Kapit coffeehouse in Jerusalem. That attack was foiled after the militant charged with carrying it off returned to his vehicle and detonated the bomb on the spot.
Abu Shidam was active in Hamas' infrastructure activities in Hebron and was considered an "engineer" for the militant group.
The military prosecution had asked the court to sentence the defendant to 18 back-to-back life sentences for all of his deeds.
Abu Shidam's spokesperson told the court that the defendant had carried out his deeds to avenge the death of his 21-year-old brother - who was killed by Israel security forces - and as resistance to the "occupation." Abu Shidam refused to express regret for his action.
2 East Jerusalem men jailed for plot to abduct and kill Haredi
Meanwhile, the Jerusalem District Court on Monday sentenced two cousins from East Jerusalem to prison for attempting to abduct and kill an ultra-Orthodox man.
The defendants, Aiman and Haitham Salhab, were sentenced to seven and five years respectively, and to another year of suspended imprisonment.
The court convicted the two of aiding the enemy during wartime and Aiman of contact with a foreign agent.
According to the verdict, a Gaza resident by the name of Riad Hussein contacted Aiman Salhab in February 2007 and offered him $4,000 for kidnapping and killing an ultra-Orthodox man. Salhab was told to dispose of the body and hand over the man's papers to a Hebron group, as a bargaining chip in their demand to release Palestinian prisoners. He accepted the offer and involved his cousin in the plot.
The verdict also says that on the night of February 28 the defendants drove to Jerusalem in order to carry out their scheme, for the purpose of which they tried unsuccessfully to purchase tear gas at several pharmacies.
As weapons, the defendants planned to use a large screwdriver and a wrench. They drove around several Jerusalem neighborhoods but failed to find an ultra-Orthodox man walking by himself.
Aiman Salhab reported back to Hussein that they had failed to carry out their mission and asked for a revolver with a silencer, which they did not get.
The court said that "the crimes that the defendants committed are very grave and should not be taken lightly, even though their original plan was not followed through. The planning was neither meticulous nor protracted, but it still indicates the unbearable lightness of the defendants' recruitment to, compliance with and willingness to engage in a serious offense. Here lies the danger of their deeds."
The defendants claimed that they were motivated by financial, rather than ideological, reasons. The court took their personal circumstances and lack of ideological alignment into account.