GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: The Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas which rules Gaza executed three men convicted of murder on Tuesday, its interior ministry said.
“Based on religious law and our religion and what is stipulated in Palestinian law... three men convicted of intentional murder were executed on Tuesday morning in accordance with a court order sentencing them to death by hanging after their conviction,” it said in a statement.
It identified the executed men only by their initials and said it had offered the families of the victims the opportunity to seek “blood money” — a compensation payment from the convicted.
“But the families of the victims demanded the punishment be carried out,” the statement said.
In April, the Hamas government hanged three other Palestinians, one convicted of “collaboration” and two others convicted of murder.
The executions, which take place without the presence of reporters, have been criticized domestically and internationally.
Under Palestinian law, collaboration with Israel, murder and drug trafficking are all punishable by death.
All execution orders must be approved by the Palestinian president before they can be carried out, but Hamas no longer recognizes the legitimacy of Mahmud Abbas, whose four-year term ended in 2009.
In the town of Ramallah, the West Bank government of prime minister Salam Fayyad denounced the executions, saying “the verdict was issued by illegitimate courts... in contravention of the existing laws.”
“Any execution of a death penalty requires the approval of the state’s president. This is in addition to the fact that such a measure is a dangerous violation of human rights,” his cabinet said after its weekly meeting.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said the executions brought the number of death sentences carried out in Gaza this year to six, saying all death sentences required ratification by the Palestinian president and reiterating its opposition to the death penalty.
The head of the Council of Europe parliamentary assembly also condemned the executions.
“I condemn the three illegal executions carried out today by Hamas, and call on the authorities in Gaza to cease all further executions, in line with the de facto moratorium on the death penalty which has been put in place by the Palestinian Authority since 2005,” said Tiny Kox.
“They fly in the face of the welcome progress made by the Palestinian Authority, which... is considering a draft law which would abolish the death penalty altogether,” he said.
Fayadh govt livid as Hamas executes 3 for murder
