A 21-year-old Palestinian woman from the West Bank was sentenced Sunday to 15 months in prison, after being convicted of contacting an enemy agent and planning a suicide attack in Israel. The Judea Military Court found the woman guilty of contacting an Islamic Jihad operative via the internet and plotting the attack. According to the case file, the woman, as well as two of her brothers, contacted Jihad operatives on a chat room. The prosecution had proof that on one of the chats the woman had said she was willing to commit a suicide attack in light of the situation in the Gaza Strip and as retaliation to the Israeli offensive in Gaza.
The 21-year-old told the court she was just "surfing the net as a pastime," but the internet correspondence presented demonstrated that the plan was taking shape, and was halted only after the computer malfunctioned. The woman and her brothers were arrested shortly thereafter by the Israeli security forces.