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Capital punishment in the Gaza Strip

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This article is about the Gaza Strip. For the West Bank and East Jerusalem, see Human rights in Palestine § Capital punishment.
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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. Many of the executions have be described as extrajudicial killings due to an incomplete or unaccountable court procedures.

According to Palestinian law, there are 77 crimes that are punishable by the death penalty. From 1994 to 2022, approximately 260 death sentences have been issued: around 230 in Gaza and 30 in the West Bank. In total, during this period, 41 executions were carried out, with the vast majority occurring in Gaza.[1]

History

The Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip

See also: Palestinian National Authority

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.[2]

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.[3] Two parallel Palestinian judicial systems carried out executions in the Gaza Strip, civil and military.[4] 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,[5] but authorities in the Gaza Strip have disregarded this rule on multiple occasions.[6]

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

See also: Hamas government in the Gaza Strip and Fatah–Hamas reconciliation process

Executions during the 2014 Gaza war

Further information: Operation Protective Edge and Alleged murders of political rivals

During the 2014 Gaza War,[7][8] Hamas executed more than 20 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.[9]

According to an Amnesty International report, 23 Palestinians were executed by Al-Qassam in the course of the 2014 conflict, and 16 of those people had been in prison since before the war began.[10][11] Some were on trial for espionage, but those trials were suddenly cut 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,[7] to carry out summary executions, to settle scores against opponents under the pretext they were collaborators with Israel.[12][9] They were also accused of torture.[8]

Most of these executions of alleged collaborators occurred in response to the IDF assassinating Muhammad Abu Shamala [ar] and Raed Attar, and the unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Mohammed Deif, which instead killed his 27-year-old wife, Widad, and his 7-month-old son Ali Deif. The following day, 18 of the suspected collaborators were executed by firing squad.[13][14][15][16] The day after that, the body of Deif's 3 year old daughter, Sarah, was recovered from the rubble of the same home.[16][14][15]

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.[17]

Mahmoud Eshtewi - February 2016

See also: Hamas murders of political rivals and Sinwar torture allegations

In February 2016, Al Qassam claimed they had executed of Mahmoud Rushdi Eshtewi [ar] (Arabic: محمود رشدي اشتيوي),[a][19][20] one of the group's leading commanders, for very ambiguous reasons. Eshtewi was survived by his two widows and his three children.[better source needed][21] Most reliable sources at the time described the charges as unnamed or undefined.[22][23][19][24] The stated reason was “for behavioral and moral violations to which he confessed” (Arabic: تجاوزاته السلوكية والأخلاقية التي أقر بها)[19][20][24] Whatever it may refer to, the confession was probably obtained by torture.[24][23] 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.[24] 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.[19][24] The New York Times and other media from the USA interpreted the vague charges as a reference to a "homosexual relationship".[21][17]

3 convicts executed in May 2016

In May 2016, Hamas reportedly executed three men by firing squad and hanging.[25] 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.[25] 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.[26]

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.[27] Reportedly, the men were hanged at a Hamas police compound, as dozens of Hamas leaders and officials watched the killing.[28][29]

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.[6]

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.[30] 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.[6] The other three men had been convicted for murder.

Death sentences and executions in the Gaza Strip

See also: Executions and assassinations during the Israel–Hamas war
This table is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Executed
during 		Person(s) Detained Death sentence Execution Sources
Name or number Age Date Charge(s) Date Method
Operation
Protective
Edge 		Ayman Taha Treason Egypt[A] 2014-08-04
[disputed][B] 		Firing squad
[disputed][B] 		[31]
25 or more people summary
executions 		Treason Israel[C] 2014-08-21
to 24 August 		Various[D] [32]
Atta Najjar Treason 2014-08-22 Unknown [33]
Mahmoud Eshtewi [ar]
(also spelled "Ishtiwi") 		34 January
2015 		Undisclosed Undefined[E]
(see above) 		2016-02-07 Firing squad
[disputed][F] 		[23][24][34]
3 people Murder (3) September
2022
1 person[G] 1991 Treason Israel[H]
1 person 44[I] 2001 or after[J] Treason Israel[J]
5 people 2023-08-06 Treason[K] Sentenced to hanging.[L] [35]
  1. ^ Spying for Egypt.
  2. ^ a b c Israel sat he was executed by Gaza, but Gaza say he died in an Israeli airstrike months later that killed his entire family.
  3. ^ Collaborating with Israel.
  4. ^ Including some public executions.
  5. ^ The stated reason was “for behavioral and moral violations to which he confessed” (Arabic: تجاوزاته السلوكية والأخلاقية التي أقر بها)[19][20][24]
  6. ^ Firing squad alleged by Al-Qassam,[34][24] or prior death in custody alleged by others.[23][24]
  7. ^ Described only as a Khan Younis resident.
  8. ^ convicted of supplying Israel in 1991 with “information on men of the resistance, their residence… and the location of rocket launchpads”.[6]
  9. ^ born 1978
  10. ^ a b c supplying Israel in 2001 with intelligence “that led to the targeting and martyrdom of citizens” by Israeli forces, according to Hamas.[6]
  11. ^ a b Officially "collaboration with hostile entities" as defined by Article 131 of the 1979 Palestinian Revolutionary Penal Code.[35]
  12. ^ a b No reports of the sentence being implemented.


Misinformation about executions in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip

See also: Misinformation in the Israel–Hamas war

Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades militant wing have been credibly accused of numerous war crimes including various extrajudicial killings, but commonly told stories about executions in the Gaza Strip have been over simplified, exaggerated, distorted, or completely fabricated.[36] For example, 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 the State of Palestine.[36] 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.[36]

Allegations of capital punishment for homosexuality

See also: LGBT rights in Palestine and Capital punishment for homosexuality § Palestine

Same sex sexual behaviour is not officially or typically a capital crime in the Gaza Strip.[37][38] The only crimes that routinely attract the death penalty are treason and murder. No laws currently in peace in the Occupied Palestinian territory directly prohibit sex between consenting adult women.[39] But there are differencees between the Gaza Strip and West Bank governments regarding the legal status of sex between consenting adult men. The laws against homosexual behavior between men in Palestine that are currently in place in the Gaza Strip are a relic of British colonial rule in Mandatory Palestine.[37][38] There is some ambiguity and debate about whether homosexuality was decriminalised in 1858 during the period Ottoman role that preceded Mandatory Palestine.[40] The British colonial laws that are currently on place in the Gaza Strip specify a sentences of a maximum of 10 or 14 years years in prison.[37][38] There is very little evidence that these laws are actually enforced in Gaza.[37] Some interpretations of the laws say that it does not outlaw consensual gay sex between adults at all. In 2018, Anis. F. Kassim (editor-in-chief of the Palestinian Yearbook of International Law) said that Palestinian law (even in Gaza) could be interpreted as allowing non-commercial sex between consenting adult men.[38]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Sometimes spelled "Mahmoud Ishtiwi".[18]

References

  1. ^ "Palestine: Death penalty in a forgotten country". Prison Insider. 22 June 2022. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
  2. ^ "عقوبة الإعدام في مناطق السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية بين التشريعات السارية والمعايير الدولية The death penalty in the areas of the Palestinian National Authority between applicable legislation and international standards". مركز المعلومات الوطني الفلسطيني Palestinian National Information Center. Archived from the original on 28 March 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  3. ^ "What is Gaza Strip, the besieged Palestinian enclave under Israeli assault?". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  4. ^ Esveld, Bill Van (3 October 2012). "Abusive System". Human Rights Watch.
  5. ^ The Advocates for Human Rights (29 May 2023). "State of Palestine's Compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: Death Penalty" (PDF). theadvocatesforhumanrights.org/.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Hamas executes 5 Palestinians in Gaza, including 2 for 'collaborating' with Israel". Times of Israel . 4 September 2022. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  7. ^ a b c "PHOTOS: The Gaza families obliterated in just 51 days". +972 Magazine. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  8. ^ a b c Kershner, Isabel (27 May 2015). "Hamas accused of killing and torturing Palestinians". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  9. ^ a b Beaumont, Peter (27 May 2015). "Hamas executed 23 Palestinians under cover of Gaza conflict, says Amnesty". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  10. ^ "Hamas tortured and killed Palestinian 'collaborators' during Gaza conflict - new report". Amnesty International. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  11. ^ "'Strangling Necks': Abduction, torture and summary killings of Palestinians by Hamas forces during the 2014 Gaza/Israel conflict" (PDF). Amnesty International. p. 5, 15, 19. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  12. ^ "Gaza: Palestinians tortured, summarily killed by Hamas forces during 2014 conflict". Amnesty International. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  13. ^ Gold, Shabtai (22 August 2014). "Hamas executes 18 'collaborators' in Gaza". Haaretz. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  14. ^ a b "Body of Deif's daughter, 3, pulled from Gaza rubble". The Daily Star Newspaper – Lebanon. Archived from the original on 21 August 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  15. ^ a b "The body of the child Sarah Al-Deif was recovered from under the rubble". palinfo.com (in Arabic). 21 August 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  16. ^ a b "Gaza: Thousand mourn death of Hamas chief's wife, baby son". Firstpost. 20 August 2014. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  17. ^ a b 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 can also be read as "ethics violations", and there is no evidence of it being used by Hamas in any other context to specifically refer to Men who have Sex with Men (MSM).
  18. ^ a b Pfeffer, Anshel (13 May 2024). "Hamas leader's torture tactics revealed in IDF tunnel raid". The Times. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  19. ^ a b c d e "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.
  20. ^ a b c "Implementation of the death sentence issued against Phalange member Mahmoud Eshtewi". Military Information Department of EQB. 7 February 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  21. ^ a b 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…
  22. ^ "Hamas kills a local commander for unnamed 'violations'". AP News. AP. 7 February 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  23. ^ a b c d "פלסטין: עציר עונה ומת בידי חמאס - Human Rights Watch" (in Hebrew). 15 February 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  24. ^ a b c d e f g h i "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".
  25. ^ a b Sanchez, Raf (31 May 2016). "Hamas begins executions in Gaza". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  26. ^ Dearden, Lizzie (2 June 2016). "Hamas resumes executions in Gaza". The Independent. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  27. ^ "Hamas executes 3 Palestinians over Israel ties". Associated Press via USA Today. 6 April 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  28. ^ "Palestine: Hamas executes three civilians tried in Gaza military courts". Amnesty International. 6 April 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  29. ^ Jack Moore (6 April 2017). "Hamas Hangs Three in Gaza For Israel 'Collaboration'". Newsweek. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  30. ^ "Execution of Gaza prisoners condemned by UN rights office | UN News". news.un.org. 5 September 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  31. ^ Alroy Menezes (8 August 2014). "Mystery Surrounds Death of Ayman Taha, Former Hamas Spokesperson". International Business Times. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  32. ^ "B'Tselem strongly condemns executions of individuals suspected of collaborating with Israel". B’Tselem. 24 August 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  33. ^ "'Strangling Necks': Abductions, torture and summary killings of Palestinians by Hamas forces during the 2014 Gaza/Israel conflict - occupied Palestinian territory". ReliefWeb. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  34. ^ a b "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.
  35. ^ a b "Deeply concerned by the continued issuance of death sentences in Gaza, Al Mezan urges the complete abolition of this practice". 15 August 2023. "convicted of collaboration with hostile entities in violation of Article 131 of the 1979 Palestinian Revolutionary Penal Code.
  36. ^ a b c "Fact Check: Video of people thrown from roof shows punishment by IS, not Hamas". Reuters. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  37. ^ a b c d "Palestine". Human Dignity Trust. 15 February 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  38. ^ a b c d Abusalim, Dorgham (7 March 2018). "The Real Oppressors of Gaza's Gay Community: Hamas or Israel?". Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  39. ^ "Palestine". Human Dignity Trust. 15 February 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2024. Only men are criminalised under this law.
  40. ^ Ozsoy, Elif Ceylan (15 October 2021). "Decolonizing Decriminalization Analyses: Did the Ottomans Decriminalize Homosexuality in 1858?". Journal of Homosexuality. 68 (12): 1979–2002. doi:10.1080/00918369.2020.1715142. hdl:10871/120331. PMID 32069182. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
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