Bombers given 29 life sentences

Four accomplices in the deadliest ever Palestinian suicide bombing were given 29 consecutive life sentences each yesterday – one for each Israeli killed in last year’s blast at a seaside hotel.

Twenty-nine Israelis were killed in the bombing at the Park Hotel in the northern coastal town of Netanya at the start of the Passover holiday.

The bomber, Abdel Baset Odeh from the Islamic militant group Hamas, blew himself up in the hotel dining room, as guests participated in a ritual Passover meal.

Odeh’s accomplices were sentenced just two days before the anniversary of the blast, according to the Hebrew calendar. This year’s Passover holiday begins at sundown tomorrow.

The Jerusalem court convicted the four accomplices, also Hamas members, of sheltering Odeh ahead of the attack and providing him with explosives. Each received an additional 20-year sentence for attempting to plan another attack.

Since last year’s military offensive, Israeli forces have almost wiped out the Hamas infrastructure in the northern West Bank, arresting or killing nearly 100 wanted activists, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s office said yesterday.