Hamas terrorist in Gaza
Hamas terrorist in GazaEmad Nassar/Flash 90

Hamas announced on Wednesday that the execution of three men who were found guilty of assassinating the group's senior member Mazen Faqha will take place on Thursday, reported The Associated Press.

A court in Gaza on Sunday handed the death sentences to the three men, one of whom was charged with the killing itself. The other two were found to be accomplices.

Amnesty International urged Hamas to stay the executions, saying the men were found guilty "in a court that utterly disregarded international fair trial standards."

"We are urging the Hamas authorities to immediately halt these executions and ensure that the men are given a fair retrial," Amnesty said Wednesday, according to AP.

Faqha, a convicted terrorist released in the 2011 Shalit deal, was shot by unknown assailants in his Gaza home on March 24.

Hamas authorities in Gaza accused Israel of being behind his death immediately after it happened, and threatened to get Israel back for any action by Israeli security forces against Hamas senior officials.

Following Faqha’s death, Hamas released a video in which it threatened to eliminate senior Israeli officials.

In theory all execution orders in the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) territories must be approved by PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who is based in Ramallah and who imposed a moratorium on executions several years ago.

Hamas no longer recognizes Abbas’s legitimacy, and has in the past emphatically declared that the death penalty in Gaza can be carried out without his consent.