The number of Palestinian prisoners sentenced to life in jail by Israel has reached 501, according to the Palestinian Information Centre.

The last prisoner to be sentenced was Amjad Al-Najjar, who was also fined 35,000 shekels ($98,700), after being accused of perpetrating an anti-occupation attack that killed a settler and injured three others.

Israeli law defines a life sentence as a 99-year term of imprisonment.

A total of 6,500 Palestinians are currently imprisoned in 22 Israeli prisons; around 550 are being held under administrative detention orders without charge. Almost 60 Palestinian women and girls are held by Israel, along with 350 boys and 12 Members of Parliament.

Israel is known to regularly abuse and torture Palestinian prisoners, including children and those on hunger strike, many of whom have been sentenced to decades in jail, even if not for life.

Read: UK criticises Israel’s ‘extensive use’ of detention without charge

Israel’s detention and treatment of Palestinian prisoners has been criticised by numerous human rights organisations. Last week, Amnesty International condemned Israel’s use of administrative detention against Palestinian rights activists. Amnesty’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Magdalena Mughrabi, emphasised that the Israelis have relied upon the practice for 50 years to suppress peaceful dissent.