Hamas Kills 18 for Allegedly Passing Along Information to Israel: Report
Hamas-run Al Aqsa TV announced on Friday that as many as 18 people were killed for allegedly passing information to Israel, according to CNN.
The killings happened as fighting resumed after the collapse of another Egyptian-brokered cease-fire between the reluctant neighbors.
Masked gunmen opened fire on seven suspected informants near a mosque in Gaza City and also killed 11 people by firing squad at the Gaza City police headquarters, according to the Hamas-run Al Rai website.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights reported that two of those killed on Friday were women and asked Hamas to stop the killings. The Friday executions were the third informant-related killing from Hamas since the Gaza war broke out six weeks ago, USA Today reported.
Reports claim that Israel has been relying on informants to give them intel on where to target airstrikes in order to hit Hamas leaders. Israel has a network of informants in Gaza and has used the promise of exit permits to get information.
Friday's killings happened amid a third day of fighting after the most-recent cease-fire fell through earlier this week. Israel killed two Palestinians on Friday in an airstrike on a farm.
Latest reports say that Israel had launched 20 airstrikes Friday morning and that Hamas had responded by firing 26 rockets into Israel. In the latest iteration of the Gaza war, which has been raging on and off for years, more than 2,000 Palestinians have been killed.
Egypt has been working to broker a peace deal between the two, with only temporary success. Earlier this week, Hamas declined a deal in which Israel would Israel would incrementally reduce its blockade on Gaza because the plan lacked specifics.
The militant group that controls Gaza has asked for a reopening of the border that was closed in 2007 by both Israel and Egypt after Hamas took power of the territory.
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