Two Palestinian men accused of collaborating with Israel have been executed in the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-run interior ministry says.

A statement did not name the men - it only gave their initials and age - but said they had given information that had led to the killing of Palestinians.

Three others were also executed - on charges of murder.

Human rights groups have previously condemned such executions by Hamas - the militant group which runs Gaza.

Since 2007 when they asserted control over Gaza, the Hamas-run authorities have carried out at least 27 executions, most recently in April 2017.

The two men accused of spying for Israel were arrested in 2009 and 2015 and "convicted by a court of treason and conspiring with foreign parties", the interior ministry statement said.

Four were hanged and one was executed by firing squad because he was a policeman, it added.

Security sources told the BBC that one of those executed was a Hamas policeman who used his weapon to kill his father-in-law and a 13-year-old girl after a family dispute last July.

The crime sparked protests in the Beit Lahia area, north of Gaza, during which houses and shops were burned.

Israel occupied the Gaza Strip during the 1967 Middle East war. In 2005, it withdrew its troops and some 7,000 settlers.

Source:
courtesy of BBC NEWS

by BBC News

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