An Arab Israeli who took her young family to Iraq and joined the Islamic State group was sentenced to more than four years in prison Tuesday, the justice ministry said.

Sabreen Zbedat spent months in the jihadists' Iraqi stronghold Mosul with her husband and three children, in the first known case of an entire Arab Israeli family joining IS, Israel's domestic security agency Shin Bet said.

A Haifa court sentenced Zbedat, from the northern Israeli town of Sakhnin, to 50 months in prison for travelling to an enemy country and taking part in terrorist activities.

Zbedat was aged 30 when she and her husband Wissam, then 41, flew to Romania in June 2015 with their children aged three, six and eight, the Shin Bet and Israeli police said.

From there they travelled to Turkey, Syria and finally Iraq, where IS recruited them, the authorities said.

The police said Sabreen had convinced her husband to join the group. He received religious instruction and military training before going into battle.

Wounded in the leg, he was hospitalised in Mosul where the family was living.

Sabreen worked at a hospital there and the children attended schools, Israeli police said.

They decided to leave Mosul because of bombing by an international coalition against the IS, harsh conditions imposed by the jihadists and pressure from relatives in Israel.

The return journey took eight months, according to the Israeli police.

After several failed attempts, the family passed from Syria into Turkey, paying thousands of dollars to smugglers. After crossing the border, they were arrested.

They finally arrived back in Israel on September 22, where the parents were arrested and the children were put in the care of relatives.

The husband, Wissam, is still on trial, according to local media.

Several Arabs from northern Israel have been detained for alleged links with IS. Around 50 Israeli Arabs are believed to be among its ranks in Syria and Iraq.

Israeli Arabs are the descendants of Palestinians who remained on their land after the creation of Israel in 1948.

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