Hamas suspect jailed for life over terror plot

VIENNA: A Palestinian man suspected of belonging to the Islamist group Hamas has been given a life sentence in Austria for plotting a terror attack against Jews in Israel.

The 27-year-old, who was arrested at an asylum-seeker centre in Lower Austria last July, was found guilty late Monday of belonging to a terror organisation and attempting to incite murder. Prosecutors accused him of contacting two men in the Palestinian territories via social media apps and ordering them to carry out killings of Jews in Jerusalem.

Both accomplices were detained by Israeli authorities in June 2016, leading to the arrest of the alleged mastermind the following month in the Austrian town of Gmuend.