Capital punishment in the Gaza Strip

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Capital punishment in the Gaza Strip has been enforced by multiple governments, militaries, and irregular militias throughout the area's history. A large proportion of the killings have been associated with broader violent conflicts.

History

The Palestinian National Authority in Gaza

The State Security Court in Gaza (Arabic : محكمة أمن الدولة في غزة), which was formed in 1995, issued several death sentences against eight people, as follows: 3 in 1995, 3 in 1997, and 2 in 1999, all of which were in murder cases. Not all sentences were carried out. [1]

Courts in the Gaza Strip after 2007

From the Battle of Gaza (2007) until the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip (2023–present), The Hamas movement had control of the interior of the Gaza Strip on the ground, but did not control the airspace, maritime borders, or land borders. [2] Two parallel Palestinian judicial systems carried out executions in the Gaza Strip, civil and military. [3] The judiciary of the Hamas-led civilian government and the military courts of the Ezzedeen al Qassam Brigades. The West Bank and Gaza Strip governments collaborate closely on issues such as health, but on other issues the Gaza Strip authorities act more autonomously. Palestinian law requires approval from the Palestinian National Authority president (currently Mahmoud Abbas) for the death penalty, but authorities in the Gaza Strip have disregarded this rule on multiple occasions. [4]

Misinformation about executions in Hamas-run Gaza

During the Israel–Hamas war, a video described as “Hamas executes people by throwing them off a roof of a building!” circulated on social media, but the video was from 2015 and not from Palestine. [5] A July 2015 report from Al Arabiya, included identical images and states that they were originally shared by the so-called Islamic State, and showed the execution of four gay men in Fallujah, Iraq. [5]

Executions by Gaza's government and military (2007-2024)

23 executed in 2014

During the 2014 Gaza War, [6] [7] Hamas executed 23 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. [8] According to an Amnesty International report, 23 Palestinians were executed by Al-Qassam in the course of the 2014 conflict, and 16 of them imprisoned from before the war began. [9] [10] Some were on trial for espionage, but those trials were suddenly city short. From among the executed, 6 were killed by a firing squad outside a mosque in front of hundreds of spectators including children. Amnesty claimed that Hamas used the cover of the war, which had a very heavily death toll, [6] to carry out summary executions, to settle scores against opponents under the pretext they were collaborators with Israel. [11] [8] They were also accused of torture. [7]

9 sentenced to death in 2015 and 4 in January 2016

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. [12]

Mahmoud Eshtewi killed in February 2016

In February 2016, Al Qassam claimed they had executed of Mahmoud Eshtewi (Arabic : محمود رشدي اشتيوي, romanized: Maħmoud Rushdi Eshtewi, [13] [14] sometimes spelled "Mahmoud Ishtiwi"). [15] one of the group’s leading commanders, for very ambiguous reasons. Most reliable sources described the charges as unnamed or undefined. [16] [17] [13] [18] The stated reason was “for behavioral and moral violations to which he confessed” (Arabic : تجاوزاته السلوكية والأخلاقية التي أقر بها) [13] [14] [18] Whatever it may refer to, the confession was probably obtained by torture. [18] [17] Before his death, his family had been told that the death penalty charge - treason (giving information to Israel that causes the deaths of Palestinians) - had been dropped. [18] There is some suspicion that Eshtewi died in custody and was shot after death, from reports of people who saw his body before burial and thought the bullet wounds looked suspicious. [13] [18] The New York Times and other media from the USA interpreted the vague charges as a reference to a "homosexual relationship". [19] [12] Eshtewi was survived by his two widows and his three children. [19]

3 convicts executed in May 2016

In May 2016, Hamas reportedly executed three men by firing squad and hanging. [20] 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. [20] 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. [21]

3 alleged collaborators executed in April 2017

In April 2017, it was reported that three Palestinians were executed by Hamas in Gaza Strip over alleged collaboration with Israel. [22] Reportedly, the men were hanged at a Hamas police compound, as dozens of Hamas leaders and officials watched the killing. [23] [24]

13 sentenced between January and August 2022

According to B'Tselem, Hamas courts handed down 13 death sentences in January-August 2022, but had not carried out any since 2017. [4]

5 executed in September 2022

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. [25] 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. [4] The other three men had been convicted for murder.

Death sentences and executions in the Gaza Strip (2005-2024)

Name(s)ChargeDateLocationMethod
Ayman Taha [ citation needed ]Treason4 August 2014UnknownShot
Atta Najjar [26] Treason22 August 2014Katiba prisonUnknown
Mahmoud Eshtewi
(also spelled "Ishtiwi")
Arabic : محمود اشتيوي
UndefinedFebruary 2016Gaza StripFiring squad (alleged by Al Qassam) [27] [18]
Prior death in custody (alleged by others) [17] [18]
3 unnamed peopleMurder (3)September 2022Gaza StripHanging [ citation needed ]
Khan Younis residentTreason [upper-alpha 1]
Unnamed 44 year old male [upper-alpha 2] Treason [upper-alpha 3]
  1. convicted of supplying Israel in 1991 with “information on men of the resistance, their residence… and the location of rocket launchpads”. [4]
  2. born 1978
  3. supplying Israel in 2001 with intelligence “that led to the targeting and martyrdom of citizens” by Israeli forces, according to Hamas. [4]

See Also

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References

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  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Times of Israel Archived 2022-09-04 at the Wayback Machine , 4 September 2022
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  12. 1 2 Moore, Jack (2 March 2016). "Hamas executed a prominent commander after accusations of gay sex". Newsweek . Retrieved 6 April 2016. Hamas announced that the man in charge of a number of the group's tunnels used for smuggling and surprise attacks had been executed for moral turpitude, a Hamas term for homosexuality[ better source needed ] … a Hamas[ who? ] investigation alleged that Ishtiwi had hidden money designated for his unit's weapons, before an unnamed man claimed to have had sex with him, providing details about their meetings. The investigation concluded that the money Ishtiwi had stolen had been used to pay the man for sexual relations or to bribe him to keep Ishtiwi's secret.Note: The phrase translated by this source as "moral turpitude" is translated in other sources as "moral transgressions", and there is no evidence of it being used in any other context to specifically refer to Men who have Sex with Men (MSM).
  13. 1 2 3 4 "تعذيب وموت محتجز لدى حماس في غزة". Human Rights Watch (in Arabic). 16 February 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2024. لتجاوزاته السلوكية والأخلاقية التي أقر بها - For his behavioral and moral transgressions that he acknowledged.
  14. 1 2 "Implementation of the death sentence issued against Phalange member Mahmoud Eshtewi". Military Information Department of EQB. 7 February 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
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  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Palestine: Torture, Death of Hamas Detainee - Human Rights Watch". Human Rights Watch. 15 February 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2024. His family said they discovered that Qassam operatives held him in secret locations until February 7, when the group's Military Information Department issued a statement saying it had executed Eshtewi after sentencing him to death "for behavioral and moral violations to which he confessed".
  19. 1 2 Hadid, Diaa; Waheidi, Majd Al (1 March 2016). "Hamas Commander, Accused of Theft and Gay Sex, Is Killed by His Own". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 1 November 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023. Adding a layer of scandal to the story, he was accused of moral turpitude, by which Hamas meant homosexuality." … "Mr. Ishtiwi, who is survived by two wives and three children…
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  27. "تعذيب وموت محتجز لدى حماس في غزة". Human Rights Watch (in Arabic). 16 February 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2024. لتجاوزاته السلوكية والأخلاقية التي أقر بها - For his behavioral and moral transgressions that he acknowledged.