The Israeli army announced on Tuesday February 21 that it had sentenced Bassam al-Saadi, a leader of the Palestinian armed group Islamic Jihad in the occupied West Bank, to 22 months in prison.
"
Bassam al-Saadi was sentenced as part of a plea agreement ... he was found guilty of criminal association, incitement to hatred and impersonation,"
said the army said in a statement.
"
According to the indictment, Bassam al-Saadi acted with other suspects to promote actions of the terrorist organization Islamic Jihad
," the army said, announcing that the man had been "
sentenced to 22 months in prison, as well as a suspended sentence and a fine.
The army did not indicate the length of the suspended sentence or the amount of the fine.
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“Preventive” offensive
This head of the Islamic Jihad section in Jenin, in the northern occupied West Bank, was arrested on August 1, 2022 by Israel and charged by an Israeli military court with supporting and transferring funds to a “terrorist”
organization
.
His arrest was followed by threats from Islamic Jihad which had announced the "
general mobilization
" of its fighters.
Israel responded by carrying out a "
preventive
" offensive against the armed group in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory under Israeli blockade.
For three days in August, the clashes caused the death of 49 Palestinians, including 12 members of the Islamic Jihad according to the movement, and at least 19 children according to the UN.
Around 200 rockets were fired by Islamic Jihad towards Israel, injuring three.
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The Israeli authorities had also claimed that some Palestinians killed would have perished because of failed rocket fire from Islamic Jihad towards Israel, which fell in the Gaza Strip.
A truce agreement had been brokered by Egypt.
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