The Hamas military court in the Gaza Strip sentenced three residents to death on Monday, two of them for collaborating with Israeli intelligence and one for drug trafficking.
The military tribunal ruled that “it is its duty to protect Palestinian society from the scourge of cooperation with the enemy” and from the phenomenon of drug trafficking.
Another 11 residents were given sentences that ranged from four years in prison, to life imprisonment and hard labor.
The military tribunal in the Gaza Strip relies on the Penal Code enacted in Gaza from 1979 as well as regulations from 2001.
Since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994, 237 Arab residents have been sentenced to death, 207 in the Gaza Strip and 30 in the Palestinian Authority controlled areas in Judea and Samaria.
149 death sentences have been recorded in the Gaza Strip since the rise of Hamas’ rule in 2007.
Of all the death sentences, 41 were actually implemented, 39 of them in the Gaza Strip and two more in the PA, and another 15 were summarily executed for alleged collaboration with Israel.
In 2005, Abu Mazen refused to re-approve the death sentence in the Palestinian Authority.
In 2018, the PA signed the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, established to bring an end to the death penalty to enhance human dignity and progressive development of human rights.
Over 70% of the world has abolished capital punishment in their countries.
In June, the European Union’s (EU) Mission in Jerusalem and Ramallah condemned Hamas for two death sentences it issued in the Gaza Strip earlier that month.
In October 2020, the EU issued a similar condemnation.
Many in Israel have called for the death sentence for terrorists.