Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confers with lawmakers as they convene in their parliament for a vote on a contentious plan to overhaul the country's legal system, in Jerusalem, Feb. 20, 2023. (Credit: Maya Alleruzzo/Reuters)
An Israeli military court on Tuesday sentenced Bassam al-Saadi, a senior member of Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad in the occupied West Bank, to 22 months in prison, the Israeli army said.
The leader of Islamic Jihad in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, Saadi was arrested on Aug. 1 and charged by Israeli authorities with supporting and transferring funds to a "terrorist" organization.
"Bassam al-Saadi was sentenced as part of a plea agreement" and "was convicted of activity in an illegal association, incitement and impersonation," the army said in a statement.
Saadi worked "alongside additional suspects to advance the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization's activities," it added.
"The military prosecution accepted Saadi's plea agreement and sentenced him to 22 months in prison, along with a suspended sentence and financial compensation," the army said.
It did not give details of the length of the suspended sentence or the amount of the fine.
The August arrest led to threats by Saadi's Gaza-based organization, triggering an Israeli offensive against Islamic Jihad in the blockaded Palestinian enclave.
During three days of fighting, which ended with an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire, 49 Palestinians were killed.
Islamic Jihad said 12 of them were its members, and the United Nations said the deaths included at least 19 children.
Israel insists that some of the civilian deaths including children were killed by Islamic Jihad rockets that fell short or misfired.
Around 200 rockets were fired by Islamic Jihad toward Israeli-controlled territory, injuring three.
The leader of Islamic Jihad in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, Saadi was arrested on Aug. 1 and charged by Israeli authorities with supporting and...