GAZA, August 22 (RIA Novosti) – Hamas gunmen on Friday executed at least 18 Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israeli security services, according to Al Quds radio station.
In the morning, 11 people were shot dead in the park near Al Azhar University in Gaza City. Seven other were killed after afternoon prayer outside Al Omri mosque located in the center of the city.
The local Al Majd website cited a representative for Hamas law enforcement services as saying that a person would be shot dead in the field “in [the] case it can be asserted that this man works for the enemy.” Hamas said it would not release names or photographs of those executed in order to protect their families.
One of the biggest executions in the history of the Gaza Strip took place a day after three senior Hamas commanders were killed in the Israeli Defense Forces air strike.
Thursday morning Hamas announced that its top commanders - Mohammed Abu Shammala, Raed Attar and Mohammed Barhoum - were killed in the IDF bombing of a house in the town of Rafah in southern Gaza.
On Wednesday, an Israeli strike killed the wife and seven-month-old son of Mohammed Deif, the head of Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.
A five-day truce in Gaza between the Palestinian Hamas movement and Israel collapsed on August 19, some eight hours before the official deadline. More than 2,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, 66 Israelis and a Thai national have been killed since the start of Israeli operation in Gaza on July 8.
