Four Palestinians sentenced to life in prison for killing Israeli couple in West Bank attack

Four Palestinians who killed an Israeli couple in a West Bank shooting attack last year were handed life sentences by an Israeli military court on Wednesday, the Israeli army said.

The Samaria martial court in the West Bank delivered two life sentences and another 30 years in prison to each of the four Palestinians defendants, according to a statement by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson.

According to the indictment, the four -- Yihyah Haj Ahmed, Amjad Aliwi, Samir Kusa and Karam Rezek -- planned and carried out a shooting attack in the West Bank in October 2015 in which Eitam and Naama Henkin were shot dead while traveling with their four children.

The indictment also stated that the four are members of the Hamas militant movement.

The Henkin couple were the first Israeli casualties in the nine-month-long wave of violence which started in October. It had since claimed the lives of 32 Israelis and 205 Palestinians.

The Israelis were killed in shooting, stabbing and car-ramming attacks, which had dwindled in frequency in the past few months.

The Palestinians were killed either in clashes with Israeli security forces during protests, or gunned down after carrying -- or allegedly trying to carry out -- an attack against Israelis.

Israeli leaders blame the Palestinian Authority for incitement to violence over the wave of unrest, whereas the Palestinians charge it is the result of 49 years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, where they wish to establish their own state. Endit