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JERUSALEM – Three Arabs face death sentences from the Palestinian Authority for selling their Jerusalem property to Jews, WND has learned.

The three will be put on trial in a closed PA military court this week and next week, PA sources said.

The trials come just days after a PA "military court" sentenced a Palestinian man to death by hanging after finding him guilty of selling land to Jews. That trial was the first of its kind and served as a clear threat to other Arabs considering real estate transactions with Jews in Jerusalem.

According to Palestinian sources, PA President Mahmoud Abbas must personally sign all death warrants.

Over the past few weeks, the PA increased its efforts to stop Jerusalem Arabs from selling property to Jews. A contingent of Jewish groups, including an organization called Ateret Kohanim, work to strengthen the Jewish presence in Jerusalem by purchasing properties from Arabs, primarily in eastern neighborhoods, including in Jerusalem's Old City. Some of the purchased properties were Jewish until Jews fled during Arab riots in the early 1900s