Israeli court jails Jordanian engineer for eight years

AMMAN — An Israeli court on Wednesday sentenced Jordanian engineer Manaf Jbara to eight years in prison and a fine of 6,000 shekels (some JD1,092), a member of the Jordan Engineers Association (JEA) said on Thursday.

“Jbara was convicted of planning to carry out resistance operations against the occupation authorities,” Anas Abu Khdeir, JEA media coordinator, told The Jordan Times.

He added that an Israeli court also sentenced Jbara to a 30-month suspended prison term, in case he “plots” any operations after he is released.

A statement from the media team supporting Jordanian prisoners in Israel (Fedaa) said he was accused of belonging to a militia affiliated with Hamas in the West Bank.

The sentenced engineer was visiting his relatives in the West Bank’s Tulkarm city, the media coordinator said, noting that Jbara was arrested two weeks after he arrived in September 2014.

The 25-year-old engineer joins other Jordanian engineers detained in Israeli prisons, including Abdullah Barghouthi, Abdullah Zeitawi and Thaer Hwaiti.

Around 25 Jordanians are serving sentences in Israeli prisons, Shireen Nafe, a member of Fedaa, said in previous remarks to The Jordan Times.

Akram Abu Zahrah is the most recent freed Jordanian prisoner in Israel. He was released on February 4 after serving a 14-year prison term, while Hwaiti is the latest prisoner in Israel who was arrested on December 24, while trying to cross the King Hussein Bridge on his way to the West Bank.