Hamas executed four individuals for their alleged involvement in looting aid trucks entering Gaza, Reuters reported on Monday, citing sources familiar with the incidents.
One source indicated that the four executed men were linked to a recent incident in which six security officials were killed by an Israeli airstrike while attempting to prevent gang members from hijacking aid convoys.
"The four criminals, who were executed, were involved in the crimes of looting and causing the death of members of a force tasked with securing aid trucks," a source told Reuters.
An umbrella group identifying itself as the "Palestinian Resistance" stated that seven other suspects are being pursued.
The arrival of humanitarian aid in Gaza has been hampered by widespread looting, a symptom of the desperation gripping the population. While aid groups attribute this desperation to the Israeli blockade, Israel has accused Hamas of diverting aid, a claim the terrorist group denies.
Amidst this crisis, a challenge to Hamas's authority has emerged from Yasser Abu Shabab, a prominent clan leader in the Rafah area, according to Reuters.
Abu Shabab claims to be forming a force to secure aid deliveries in parts of the enclave, publishing images of his armed men organizing aid traffic. Hamas, unable to operate effectively in Rafah, has accused Abu Shabab of past looting and maintaining connections with Israel.
Hamas regularly carries out executions in the Gaza Strip, even though all execution orders must be approved by Palestinian Authority (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.
Most of Hamas’s executions have been of alleged “Israeli spies”. In September of 2022, Hamas authorities executed two Palestinian Arabs who were convicted of assisting Israel by giving it information that resulted in the deaths of two people.
In May of 2023, a military court in the Gaza Strip sentenced several Palestinian Arabs who were convicted of providing information to Israel to be executed by hanging and by firing squad.
In December of that year, Hamas claimed to have arrested a group of Palestinian Arabs who "collaborated" with Israel to collect intelligence in the Gaza Strip in the immediate aftermath of the group’s October 7 massacre.