Capital punishment in the Gaza Strip

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Gaza Strip Gaza Strip
Flag of Hamas Hamas government


Capital punishment in the Gaza Strip has been practiced by the Hamas Administration since they were overthrown in the West Bank in 2007, after winning the 2006 Palestinian legislative election. The punishment is given for offenses such as murder, other crimes against Islamic law,[citation needed] land sales to Israelis,[citation needed] and treason. The Hamas administration of the Gaza Strip inherited the Palestinian National Authority code of law, which included the death penalty for several kinds of offenses,[citation needed] but while the Palestinian administration in Ramallah has refrained from executing capital punishments,[citation needed] death sentences are periodically performed by Hamas.

Palestinian law requires approval from the Palestinian National Authority president (currently Mahmoud Abbas, elected in 2005) for the death penalty, but the Hamas government in Gaza has carried out executions without permission from Abbas.[1]

History[edit]

See also: Hamas government in the Gaza Strip

According to an Amnesty International report,[2][3] 23 Palestinians were executed in the Gaza Strip by Hamas during the 2014 conflict with Israel.[4] Amnesty claimed that Hamas used the cover of 2014 Gaza war to carry out summary executions, including to “settle scores” against opponents under the pretext they were “collaborators with Israel”.[4]

According to Amnesty, 23 Palestinians were executed by Hamas in the course of the 2014 conflict - 16 of them imprisoned from before the conflict. From among the executed, 6 were killed by a firing squad outside a mosque in front of hundreds of spectators including children.[citation needed]

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights reported in December 2015 that Hamas issued nine death sentences in 2015. Hamas had sentenced four Gazans to death during the first weeks of 2016, all on suspicion of spying.[5]

In February 2016, Al Qassam executed of Mahmoud Eshtewi[a] one of the group’s leading commanders, for very ambiguous reasons.[7] The ambiguity led to gossip and speculation. Some tabloid media interpreted the vague charges as a reference to gay sex.[5] Eshtewi was survived by two widows and his three children.[citation needed]

In May 2016, Hamas reportedly executed three men by firing squad and hanging.[8] The execution was performed in the al-Katiba prison. The executed men were convicted for murder. Reportedly, the execution defied protests from the United Nations and "will likely" deepen tensions with the Palestinian government in the West Bank.[8] Hamas defied an agreement with Fatah, the ruling party in the West Bank, by carrying out the executions without the approval of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas later announced that 13 additional prisoners are to be executed.[9]

In April 2017, it was reported that three Palestinians were executed by Hamas in Gaza Strip over alleged collaboration with Israel.[10] Reportedly, the men were hanged at a Hamas police compound, as dozens of Hamas leaders and officials watched the killing.[citation needed]

On 4 September 2022, Hamas announced they had executed five men, including two men condemned over collaboration with the occupation (Israel), and three others in criminal cases.[citation needed] A a resident of Khan Younis born 1968 was convicted of supplying Israel in 1991 with “information on men of the resistance, their residence… and the location of rocket launchpads”; a second man, born 1978, was for supplying Israel in 2001 with intelligence “that led to the targeting and martyrdom of citizens” by Israeli forces, according to Hamas.[1] The other three men had been convicted for murder. According to B'Tselem, Hamas courts handed down 13 death sentences in January-August 2022, but had not carried out any since 2017.[1]

Palestinians killed by the civilian government or Al Qassam[edit]

executed person(s) death penalty charges execution
men women name(s) date location method
? ? Ayman Taha Treason 4 August 2014 Unknown Shot
? ? Atta Najjar Treason 22 August 2014 Katiba prison Unknown
1 Mahmoud Eshtewi[a]
(Arabic: محمود اشتيوي)[11] 		unnamed[7][b] February 2016 Gaza Strip Firing squad (alleged by Al Qassam)[12]
5 (names not confirmed)[1] Treason (2); murder (3) September 2022 Gaza Strip Hanging
1 Shadi Abu Qouta (Arabic: شادي أبو قوطة) none (fatal police violence incident) 2023 Khan Yunis municipality a bulldozer and the demolished wall of his house[13]
  1. ^ a b Sometimes spelled "Mahmoud Ishtiwi".[6]
  2. ^ The stated reason was for “his moral and behavioral violations” some Western tabloids speculated that the vague charges might refer to gay sex,[5] but most sources describe the charges as undefined or unnamed.[12][7]

See also[edit]


References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Times of Israel Archived 2022-09-04 at the Wayback Machine, 4 September 2022
  2. ^ "Hamas tortured and killed Palestinian 'collaborators' during Gaza conflict - new report". Amnesty International. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  3. ^ "'Strangling Necks': Abduction, torture and summary killings of Palestinians by Hamas forces during the 2014 Gaza/Israel conflict" (PDF). Amnesty International. May 2015. Retrieved 2016-04-06
  4. ^ a b Beaumont, Peter (27 May 2015). "Hamas executed 23 Palestinians under cover of Gaza conflict, says Amnesty". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  5. ^ a b c Moore, Jack (2 March 2016). "Hamas executed a prominent commander after accusations of gay sex". Newsweek. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  6. ^ Pfeffer, Anshel (13 May 2024). "Hamas leader's torture tactics revealed in IDF tunnel raid". The Times. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  7. ^ a b c "Hamas kills a local commander for unnamed 'violations'". AP News. AP. 7 February 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  8. ^ a b Sanchez, Raf (31 May 2016). "Hamas begins executions in Gaza". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  9. ^ Dearden, Lizzie (2 June 2016). "Hamas resumes executions in Gaza". The Independent. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  10. ^ "Hamas executes 3 Palestinians over Israel ties". Associated Press via USA Today. 6 April 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  11. ^ "تعذيب وموت محتجز لدى حماس في غزة". Human Rights Watch (in Arabic). 16 February 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  12. ^ a b "פלסטין: עציר עונה ומת בידי חמאס - Human Rights Watch" (in Hebrew). 15 February 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  13. ^ "عائلة أبو قوطة تصدر بياناً حول واقعة مقتل ابنها وتكشف تفاصيل الحدث". دنيا الوطن (in Arabic). 27 July 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
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