Hamas carried out public executions on Monday to punish those it considers “collaborators with Israel,” according to a BBC report.
According to the British outlet, Hamas’s purges aim to preserve its control over Gaza amid the rise of new local factions in the area.
In a horrific video, eight beaten men, blindfolded and kneeling, are seen being executed by Hamas militants amid cheers from onlookers.
According to the BBC, Hamas justified the executions by claiming they targeted “criminals and collaborators with Israel,” but provided no evidence to support these claims.
Among the dead was Ahmad Zidan al-Tarabin, who, according to Israel’s Ynet News, was responsible for recruiting members of a rival militia not affiliated with Hamas.
On Sunday, 52 members of the powerful Dagmoush clan were killed in clashes with Hamas forces, along with 12 Hamas fighters — including the son of senior official Bassem Naim — according to reports from Gaza.
Based on the same reports, Hamas fighters used ambulances to infiltrate the clan’s neighborhood, accusing its members of collaborating with Israel.
“It’s a massacre. They are dragging people away, children are screaming and dying, they are burning our homes. What did we do wrong?” said the daughter of a clan member to Ynet News.
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