A United Arab Emirates court has commuted the death sentence of an Israeli woman convicted of drug possession to life in prison, her lawyer told AFP on Sunday.

Fidaa Kiwan, a 43-year-old Arab Israeli photographer, was arrested in Dubai last year.

She was sentenced to death in April for possession of 50 grams of cocaine and half a kilogram of marijuana, but her punishment was reduced on appeal this week to life in prison, Israeli lawyer Tami Ullmann told AFP.

The defence team is considering whether to appeal the new sentence, which in the UAE amounts to 25 years behind bars.

Kiwan's family had said the drugs did not belong to her, with her brother telling Israeli public broadcaster Kan she was beaten into confessing.

Israel and the UAE reached a normalisation deal in 2020 as part of a series of US-brokered agreements known as the Abraham Accords.

Trade between the two countries last year totalled some $900 million, according to Israeli figures.