Two Hamas activists were given 36 consecutive life sentences Sunday for involvement in the three separate suicide attacks in Jerusalem and Rishon Letzion, in which a total of 36 people were killed.

The two - Mohammed Arman and Walid Injais - were jailed for the attack at Moment Cafe in Jerusalem in March 2002, that killed 11 people; at the Hebrew University in July 2002, in which nine people were killed; and at the Sheffield snooker club in Rishon Letzion in May 2002, that left 16 Israelis dead.

Arman and Injais were members of a terrorist cell operating from the Silwan area of East Jerusalem. The cell was broken up by Israeli security forces in August 2002.

In handing down the sentences, one of the judges wrote that, "the facial expressions and smiles of the accused at the moment when the prosecution named their victims cannot leave any doubt as to their lack of conscience." (© Copyright 2003 Haaretz. 11/30/03)