HAARETZ
by Shabtai Gold
August 22, 2014
The executions, which were carried out by firing squads, come a day after Israel assassinated senior Hamas military commanders.
DPA – Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip on Friday executed 18 people suspected of collaborating with Israel, local media reported. Some of the bodies were dumped at Al-Azhar University in Gaza City, the Maan news agency reported. Three other bodies of suspected informants were found earlier this week.
Eleven were executed in the early morning and seven were executed following afternoon prayers in a central square, with onlookers watching.
Hamas has dubbed the operation “strangling throats,” and an unnamed official was quoted as warning other informants that the group would find and execute them as well.
The executions, which were carried out by firing squads, come a day after Israel assassinated three Hamas military leaders in Gaza and killed the wife and two young children of Mohammed Deif, another commander. The executions allegedly took place after a trial of sorts.
Israel continued to carry out airstrikes against targets in the Gaza Strip overnight, while militants kept up rocket fire into Israel.
The six-week Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 2,091 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and wounded 10,500. Among the dead were 561 children, medics say.