An Israeli military court on Tuesday sentenced a senior member of Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) to 67 life sentences, Palestinian and Israeli sources reported.

Abdullah Barghouti, 31, was convicted by the Israeli army attorney for preparing bombs used in attacks that left more than 60 people dead and hundreds injured, said the sources.

The Israeli army attorney said in the court that Barghouti prepared the bomb belts and devices used in four suicide bombing attacks in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv area.

Barghouti, who was born in Kuwait and holds a Jordanian citizenship, was arrested in March 2003 in an apartment in El-Birehnear the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Palestinians said he was very close to the Hamas militaryv leaders in the Ramallah areas and also supplied bombs to the Silwancell which carried out some of the most brutal bomb attacks during the second Palestinian intifada (uprising) against Israel.

Source: Xinhua