A senior official in Hamas’s internal security service has declared that the terrorist organization possesses a “blacklist” of individuals in the Gaza Strip accused of collaborating with Israel, including merchants, members of organized crime groups, and others labeled as criminals.
The official warned that these individuals will be brought to trial ahead of their planned execution. Hamas reportedly intends to release the names of those under surveillance when it deems the time appropriate.
“If they do not return to their people and seek to atone for their crimes, we will have no choice but to publish the list,” the official stated.
He further accused Israel of providing refuge to some of the suspects, thereby complicating Hamas’s efforts to maintain order in Gaza. Nevertheless, he insisted, “justice will be served with them, and it will come by the sword.”
At the same, the Palestinian Arab Shehab news agency reported that the Revolutionary Court, under the Gaza Ministry of Interior’s Military Court, has issued an ultimatum to Yasser Abu Shabak, an armed group leader in Rafah, demanding he surrender himself for trial.
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.