Hamas's internal security "deterrence" unit announced it carried out a series of "high-quality" operations last week, during which 12 individuals were executed for alleged collaboration with Israel and involvement in criminal activity.
According to the organization's official statement, the executed individuals were accused of passing intelligence to Israel, stealing goods, and committing armed robberies.
Hamas stated that three of the men were put to death after being found guilty of "serious security offenses that endangered the security and stability of society."
The statement further claimed that the deceased were members of the "Abu Marsib crime gang," which operates in the central Gaza Strip.
"Our message is clear: there is no room for chaos in the Gaza Strip," the statement declared. "Punishment will continue on the ground as long as necessary. The campaign will persist until the last of the agents and criminals is eliminated."
While the existence of this internal unit has been known for years, reports of Hamas's violent crackdowns on suspected collaborators and internal threats have intensified since the outbreak of war in October 2023.
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.