A Hamas militant was sentenced to life imprisonment by an Israeli military court on Sunday for killing 46 people in a string of bombings during a Palestinian uprising.

Ibrahim Hamed led Hamas's military wing in the occupied West Bank until his arrest in 2006, six years after the uprising began.

Hamas, an Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip, had unsuccessfully sought Hamed's release in a prisoner swap last October in which captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was traded for more than 1,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails.

In convicting him last week, the court said Hamed was involved in attacks that included bombings in a central Jerusalem square, a popular cafe in the city and a cafeteria at Hebrew University.

It said he was responsible for the deaths of 46 Israelis and the wounding of more than 400, and sentenced him to 54 life terms.