Palestinian jailed for life for selling land in Jerusalem to Jewish buyers
A Palestinian court sentenced a man from East Jerusalem to life in prison with hard labour for trying to sell Arab property in Jerusalem’s Old City to Jewish buyers.
Issam Akel was convicted of “attempting to cut off Palestinian land and sell it to a foreign country”, the court said.
The ruling highlighted an increasingly visible battle in the city’s eastern sector, which has become more prominent in the year since US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Israel has for years tried to establish control over the contested area and has increased its efforts recently, while the Palestinians have tried to maintain their fragile foothold.
The Palestinian Authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, has railed against those who sell land in Jerusalem to Israeli groups or Jewish buyers.
But the authority does not have many options in preventing those sales. It considers such deals to be traitorous and punishable by death, although Mr Abbas has never enforced that law.
Israel arrested a Palestinian last month, accusing him of plotting to kidnap a man believed to have been involved in land sales to Jewish buyers.
Israel has banned the authority from any political activity in Jerusalem.
The conflicting claims to East Jerusalem lie at the heart of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Israel captured the area, home to the city’s most sensitive religious sites, in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it, claiming the entire city as its capital.
But that annexation is not internationally recognised, and the Palestinians seek East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.
Mr Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Although he said the declaration was not meant to determine the city’s final borders, the move was seen by both sides as him siding with Israel.
The Palestinians severed ties with the White House in response.
Marking the anniversary of his Fatah Party, Mr Abbas yesterday said he would pre-emptively reject a peace plan the US was preparing.
“Jerusalem is not for sale. We will never accept that,” he said.