A Gaza man was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Thursday after being convicted of helping Israel to fight terrorism. Mohammed Bassam Ahmed abu-Dayer, 21, was convicted under Palestinian Authority law for “violent acts dictated by an enemy state.”
A second defendant, Noor Sayid a-Tarbin, 27, was released after the court found insufficient evidence to convict him of aiding Israel.
The maximum penalty for the offense of which Dayer was convicted is death. Few official death penalty sentences have been carried out in Gaza, but dozens of Gaza residents accused of opposing the Hamas regime have been killed without sentencing this year. Most were slain during the Cast Lead counterterror offensive.
The breakaway Hamas regime in Gaza has found itself unable to officially enact the death penalty, as it is required by PA law to first obtain authorization from the PA Chairman. The current chairman is Mahmoud Abbas, head of Hamas's rival group, Fatah.
Hamas “security minister” Fathi Hamad announced last week that his ministry is seeking a legal way to carry out the death penalty in Gaza without Abbas's approval.