A Berlin court has sentenced a 28-year-old Albanian man to 8.5 years in prison for the murder of an Israeli man in October last year.

22-year-old Yossi Damari, originally from Petah Tikvah, met his killer at the hostel they shared in the German capital.

Damari was murdered after an argument broke out between the two men, the court heard. Investigators are yet to determine what triggered the argument.

The Albanian man – who hold German citizenship – then fled to the Czech Republic, where he was arrested soon after and extradited back to German by Czech authorities.

During the trial, he claimed Damari had hit him first, and that the two had fallen to the floor during the struggle.

Damari’s body was found in the ruins of the 14th century Church of the Franciscan Monastery near Berlin City Hall.