Gaza City, May 18: The democratically elected Hamas movement ruling the Gaza Strip executed three convicted murderers on Tuesday, its interior ministry said.
“The interior ministry this morning carried out the death penalty on three criminals who had committed murders after completing all legal procedures,” the ministry said in a statement. They did not release the individuals’ names.
The ministry said the three had been given “every right to defend themselves in open trials attended by their lawyers and family members.”
It also said that it granted the opportunity for the families of the victims to forgive the alleged killers and accept blood money “until moments before the death sentence was carried out.”
Last month Hamas executed two Palestinians convicted of collaborating with Israel. It was the first time the death penalty had been carried out in the territory since the group seized total power there in June 2007.
Human rights groups have said 14 people have been sentenced to death by military courts in Gaza last year after being convicted on charges of collaboration, treason and murder.
Prior to the Hamas takeover, four men were hanged in Gaza central prison and one was killed by firing squad at police headquarters in 2005, after all five were convicted of murder.
Palestinian law says the president must approve all execution orders before they can be carried out, but Hamas no longer recognises the legitimacy of Mahmud Abbas, whose four-year term ended in 2009.
Israeli security forces routinely use Palestinian informers in the occupied territories.
—Agencies