JERUSALEM, Aug 26 (Reuters) - An Israeli military court last week found the former mayor of the West Bank city of Jenin guilty of aiding Hamas militants and sentenced him to six years' imprisonment, the army said on Tuesday. Hatem Jarrar, 62, was arrested with several other Hamas officials as part of a crackdown on the Islamist group after Gaza militants kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid in June 2006. "The accused put his services at the disposal of a murderous terrorist organisation, and using his senior position he extensively aided the organisation's activities," a military judge wrote in the Aug. 21 sentence, according to the army statement. Egypt is mediating a prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel but progress has be blocked by disagreement over the scope of a deal. Hamas has said it will release Shalit only after Israel agrees to free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, but the Jewish state has expressed reservations about releasing Palestinians it accuses of violent attacks against Israeli citizens. (Writing by Joseph Nasr; editing by Andrew Dobbie)
Israeli security personnel look at monitors from the control room of the Kerem Shalom crossing, just outside the southern Gaza Strip, August 26, 2008. Israel shut its border crossings with the ...
