JERUSALEM, Nov 24 (Reuters) - An Israeli court sentenced two Palestinians to life imprisonment on Thursday for killing an American tourist while she was hiking near Jerusalem last December.

Kristine Luken, a Christian missionary, was stabbed to death in what police described as a politically motivated attack by Palestinians who thought she was Jewish.

Jerusalem District Court convicted Kifah Ghanimat and Ibrahim Ghanimat of murder and sentenced them to life terms under plea bargains in which they confessed to secondary charges including illegally entering Israel, rape, gunrunning and burglary.

The woman's hiking companion, Kaye Wilson, a Briton, played dead and later alerted police. Police said Luken had been stabbed 12 times and that DNA and other forensic evidence had led to the defendants.

(Writing by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Mark Heinrich)