Hamas executed 18 suspected informants for Israel today including six who were lined up behind a mosque and shot dead after midday prayers. The Hamas-run website Al Rai suggested the killings were in retaliation for the deaths of three high-ranking military leaders killed in an Israeli air strike yesterday.
It portrayed the killings as the beginning of a new crackdown, under the rallying cry of
'choking the necks of the collaborators.'
Six of the suspects were grabbed from among hundreds of worshippers leaving the city's largest mosque, by men in the uniform of Hamas's military wing, the
Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades. One of the masked men shouted: 'This is the final moment of the Zionist enemy collaborators' then the gunmen sprayed them with bullets.
Earlier, another witness saw 11 people shot dead in a square near the remains of Gaza police headquarters, which had been bombed by Israeli warplanes.
An 18th person was shot in front of bystanders in a separate incident nearby. Two of those killed were women, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, which called for an immediate halt to what it said were 'extra-judicial executions.'
A Gaza security official said the suspected informants were killed after they had previously been sentenced by Gaza courts. Al Rai, however, said they were killed after the completion of 'legal procedures', suggesting a hastily arranged hearing.
The killings marked the third time since the outbreak of the Gaza war six weeks ago that Hamas has announced the killing of alleged collaborators. On Thursday, it said seven people had been arrested and that three of them had been killed on suspicion of working with Israel.
In pinpointing the whereabouts of the Hamas commanders, Israel likely relied to some extent on local informers. Israel has maintained a network of informers despite its withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, at times using blackmail or the lure of exit permits to win co-operation.
Source:
DailyMail UK
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