Hamas on Tuesday executed two Palestinians convicted of collaboration with Israel, the interior ministry in Gaza said in a statement. The statement did not say how the death sentence was carried out.
A security source said that the defendants were two brothers. According to press reports, they admitted supplying information which led to the assassination of the famous leader of Hamas Dr. Abdel Aziz Rantisi in 2004.
The statement also noted that the ruling was issued against the defendants in 2004 for death by hanging. On July 14, 2011, the Court of Cassation rejected the appeal and upheld the death sentence against them. The charges against the defendants included "communicating with a foreign and hostile security body with the intent to harm the national interests, weakening the morale and power of the resistance, intentional participation in killing and an attempted murder.
This is the second time this year that death sentences are carried out by the Gaza Strip rulers of Hamas. Observers say the implementation of these rulings by Hamas constitutes a challenge to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the Fatah leader, who holds the authority to approve death sentences.
