A Gaza security official said the first batch involved 11 people who were killed early on Friday at the Gaza City police headquarters. Six more were killed later in the day in a public execution in a central Gaza square, according to a Hamas website and witnesses cited by Reuters news agency. Three suspected collaborators were also killed on Thursday.
The victims, their heads covered and hands tied, were shot dead by masked gunmen dressed in black in front of a crowd of worshippers outside a mosque after prayers, witnesses and al-Majd, a pro-Hamas website, said. The Gaza security official said the 11 men had previously been sentenced by Gaza courts, reported the Associated Press news agency. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the incident with reporters. Israel's intelligence services rely, in part, on informers to pinpoint the whereabouts of Hamas leaders. "Israel has a long and successful history of recruiting collaborators and informers both in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, and they do so through a variety of different means: sometimes it is financial inducements; other times it is blackmail, bullying, threats, promises [and] maybe intimidating family members," said Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland, reporting from west Jerusalem. She said that by publicising the retribution brought down on the 18 people, Hamas was sending a deterrent to other Palestinians. The news came as five Palestinians were killed by an Israeli air strike, the latest since Egyptian-led ceasefire talks collapsed three days ago. Ashraf al-Kidra, a Gaza health official, said on Friday some of the victims were workers at a livestock farm that was hit in the airstrike. The Israeli military said it carried out 20 airstrikes early on Friday, targeting rocket launchers and weapons sites. It said Gaza fighters fired two rockets at Israel. Friday's fighting came as funerals were held for three senior Hamas commanders killed by Israeli air raids.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Thank you for choosing to make a difference through your donation. We appreciate your support.
This website uses marketing and tracking technologies. Opting out of this will opt you out of all cookies, except for those needed to run the website. Note that some products may not work as well without tracking cookies. Opt Out of CookiesCategories
All
Archives
April 2024
|