Hamas executed three Palestinians in Gaza after accusing them of collaborating with Israel. Photo / @TwistedFocus99 via X
Hamas has executed three Palestinians accused of “collaborating” with Israel on the streets of Gaza.
Footage posted on Hamas-affiliated Telegram accounts showed armed and masked members of the group lining up three blindfolded Palestinians in a public square in Gaza.
Chants of “Allahu Akbar” were heard among the crowd as they gathered to watch and film the public execution.
One of the Hamas members was heard saying: “Pursuant to the content of Palestinian revolutionary law and based on the Palestinian revolutionary court, a death sentence was decided against those who betrayed the homeland, betrayed their people and betrayed their cause, and put [themselves] hand-in-hand with the occupation in order to kill their own people.”
The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis provided the Telegraph with an English translation of the execution video.
The three men were ordered to kneel before three executioners shot them in their heads and upper bodies with rifles.
Notes with handwritten Arabic were then laid on the bodies, reading: “Your betrayal will not pass without punishment. A harsh punishment awaits.”
Israel Hayom cited a Hamas official saying two other terror groups, Islamic Jihad and the Mujahideen Brigades, participated in the execution.
The public executions came hours after Britain, Australia and Canada announced their recognition of a Palestinian state.
Hamas has a long history of executing Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel or, most recently, stealing aid.
In early May, Hamas executed six Palestinians and shot another 13 in their legs after they were accused of looting humanitarian aid.
Hamas’ Ministry of Interior and National Security also claimed the “group of outlaws” were collaborators with Israel.
At the end of May, Hamas reportedly executed another four Palestinians accused of looting aid trucks.
After the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the terror group executed at least 23 Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel.
Amnesty International said at the time that Hamas granted its security forces “free rein to carry out horrific abuses, including against people in its custody” amid the chaos of the war.
“These spine-chilling actions, some of which amount to war crimes, were designed to exact revenge and spread fear across the Gaza Strip,” said Philip Luther, director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International.
In 2022, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) condemned the execution of five Palestinian prisoners by Hamas, all of whom were also accused of collaborating with Hamas.
Ravina Shamdasani, an OHCHR spokesman, said there were “serious concerns that criminal proceedings resulting in the imposition of death sentences in Gaza do not meet international fair trial standards”.
Elsewhere in Gaza, the Israeli military announced it killed at least 16 members of terror groups in Gaza City in the past 24 hours, including Iyad Abu Yusuf, deputy commander of Hamas’ naval police.
The attack on Yusuf took place in central Gaza City in a joint operation by the Israeli Navy, the IDF Intelligence Directorate and the Israeli Air Force.
On Sunday, IDF troops also struck a weapons manufacturing facility in Gaza City, while the air force launched attacks against members of terror groups in Khan Yunis and Rafah in southern Gaza.
Israel estimates more than 550,000 civilians have left Gaza City in recent weeks amid the IDF offensive, with around 500,000 still in the besieged city.
The Hamas-controlled health ministry reported 61 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the past 24 hours.
At a Rosh Hashanah toast at the IDF general staff forum today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “We are in the midst of a struggle in which we are overcoming our enemies, and we need to destroy the Iranian axis, and this is within our means. This is what stands before us in the coming year, which could be a historic year for the security of Israel.
“I would like to reiterate that we are determined to achieve all of our war objectives, not just in Gaza, or in completing the elimination of Hamas and the release of our hostages, or in ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel, but also in other sectors and in the opening of opportunities for security, victory and peace.
“In my view, this demands two basic qualities: unity in moments of crisis, and determination in every moment. May we have a year of security, victory and unity. Happy New Year.”
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