GAZA: DEATH PENALTY UPHELD FOR MURDER

Ma'an News Agency reported that a court in the Gaza Strip had refused an appeal to a convicted killer's death penalty, handed down in 2010.
A court of appeals upheld the sentence in November 2011, officials said.
The defendant, identified only by his initials M. A., was sentenced in 2010 in Khan Younis for murder, kidnapping, rape and possession of a deadly weapon.
Abdul Raouf al-Halabi, the head of the high court in Gaza, said the penalty is no longer subject to appeal.
M. A. could be a 22 year old citizen from Rafah, Jamil Mohammad Abdeen, who was sentenced to death by the District court of Khan Younis on 24 November 2010. Abdeen was accused of intentional murder of an 11 year old child, Abdallah Mahmoud Mu'amar, in July 2010.