Palestinian court convicts West Bank woman as Israel collaborator

A Palestinian military court has convicted a 22-year old woman of collaborating with Israel - the first time in years that a woman has been found guilty of such charges.

A court in the West Bank town of Jenin sentenced the woman on Monday to life with hard labor. The court released only her first name, Tagrid.

The woman claimed she was forced into prostitution by her ex-husband, which made her an outcast and led her to collaborate.

Court officials said she had passed on low-level information to Israeli Intelligence, but nothing that led to arrests of militants. When the ruling was read, the woman briefly blinked back tears but appeared otherwise calm. She would not speak to the press.

Palestinian collaborators play an important role in Israel's efforts against militants, often passing on information about the whereabouts of Palestinian fighters in return for money, entrance permits, or access to medical care.

Collaborating with the Israeli military or selling land to Israelis is seen as treasonous by most Palestinians, and entire families are sometimes shunned because a relative collaborated.

Around 30 Palestinians have been sentenced to death over collaboration charges since the Palestinian Authority came to power in 1994, although most sentences have not been carried out.

Also in the West Bank on Monday, a Hamas member died in a Palestinian Authority prison. In a statement issued to the media, Hamas accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' government, its bitter rival, of torturing the 28-year-old to death.