Palestinians get life sentences for killing Israeli couple

JERUSALEM – An Israeli military court on Wednesday handed life sentences to four Palestinians who gunned down an Israeli couple in front of their children in the West Bank last year.

The military said four members of the Islamic militant group Hamas shot dead Eitam and Naama Henkin as they drove through the West Bank last October. Their four children, including a four-month-old infant, were in the car but were physically unharmed. Eitam was an American citizen.

Over the past nine months, Palestinians have carried out dozens of attacks, including stabbings, shootings and car ramming assaults, killing 32 Israelis and two visiting Americans. About 200 Palestinians have been killed during that time. Israel has identified most of them as attackers while the rest died in clashes with Israeli troops.

The violence has led to calls for the revival of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which last broke down in 2014.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Rome next week, Netanyahu’s office said, without providing further details. Israeli media have reported that the two will discuss efforts to restart peace talks.

France has proposed an international peace conference, an initiative rejected by Netanyahu, who says a deal can only be reached by direct negotiations between the two sides. The Palestinians have welcomed the French initiative.

The Quartet of Mideast mediators — the U.N., U.S., EU and Russia — are finalizing a report on the conflict expected to be critical of Israel.