The Islamist movement Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip de facto, announced today that it has executed five Palestinians, two of them for "collaborating" with Israel.
"On Sunday morning, the death sentence was carried out against two convicted of collaborating with the occupation (Israel) and three others in criminal cases," the group reported in a statement, adding that the convicted had "full right to defend oneself."
The Hamas Interior Ministry did not provide the full names, but did provide the initials and their years of birth of the five Palestinians who were executed, which took place at 5:00 a.m. local time (3:00 GMT) in accordance with Islamic norms of sharia.
The two executed for "collaboration" with Israel were two men born in 1978 and 1968.
The eldest was a resident of Khan Yunis, south of the strip, convicted of providing Israel in 1991 with "information about the men of the resistance, their residence and the location of rocket launching platforms," Hamas said.
The second was convicted of providing Israel with intelligence in 2001 "which led to the attack and martyrdom of citizens" by Israeli forces, while the other three executed had been convicted of premeditated murder, the movement added.
Hamas maintains a very strict policy towards suspected Israeli collaborators and death sentences are normal in these cases, something highly criticized by the international community.
Since the Islamist movement took control of Gaza in 2007, 33 people have been executed, including 5 today.
Under Palestinian law, death sentences require the approval of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, but Hamas, which governs separately from the Palestinian National Authority, has carried out executions without his permission.
Hamas has sentenced 13 people to death since the beginning of the year, according to the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem, but has not carried out any executions.
The last executions Hamas did carry out, according to B'Tselem, were three in 2017.
