A Hamas court on Monday convicted four Palestinians of taking part in the 2011 kidnapping and killing of a pro-Palestinian Italian activist in the Gaza Strip.

Two of the indicted received life sentences for kidnapping and murdering the activist, Vittorio Arrigoni, in Gaza City in April 2011 and the third was sentenced to 10 years in prison, said Khalil Shahin of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), which follows the case.

The fourth got a one year imprisonment for providing shelter to the murderers, Shahin added.

Expressing satisfaction over the verdicts, Shahin said that Arrigoni's family has sent a letter urging Hamas to exempt capital punishment against the Palestinian suspects.

An extremist Salafi group claimed responsibility for kidnapping Arrigoni and released a video showing the man handcuffed and blindfold, as one of the kidnappers held him violently from his hair.

The group, Tawhid and Jihad, called on Hamas to release all Salafists from its prisons in exchange for Arrigoni's life. He was found dead in an empty house before the abductor's 30-hour ultimatum expired.

On April 15, 2011, Hamas troops raided a house in the middle of the Gaza Strip where the suspected murderers were hiding. Two of the key perpetrators were killed in the 5-hour standoff and a third was captured. The owner of the house was also arrested at the time and charged on Monday.

Arrigoni came to the Gaza Strip in 2007 as part of an international campaigners challenging Israel's naval blockade on the Hamas-controlled territory. His death dealt a blow to Hamas, since it has often prided itself on restoring order and security to Gaza.