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Hamas has killed 17 Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel, a day after Israel killed three of the group’s top military commanders in an airstrike on a house in southern Gaza Strip, witnesses and a Hamas website said.
A Gaza security official said the first batch involved 11 people who were killed early yesterday at the Gaza City police headquarters.

Six more were killed later in the day in a public execution in a central Gaza square, according to a Hamas website and witnesses cited by Reuters.

The victims, their heads covered and hands tied, were shot dead by masked gunmen dressed in black in front of a crowd of worshippers outside a mosque after prayers, witnesses and al-Majd, a pro-Hamas website, said. The Gaza security official said the 11 men had previously been sentenced by Gaza courts, reported the Associated Press news agency.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the incident with reporters.

Israel’s intelligence services rely, in part, on informers to pinpoint the whereabouts of Hamas leaders.

“Israel has a long and successful history of recruiting collaborators and informers both in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, and they do so through a variety of different means: sometimes it is financial inducements; other times it is blackmail, bullying, threats, promises and maybe intimidating family members,” said Al Jazeera’s Jacky Rowland, reporting from west Jerusalem.

She said that by publicising the retribution brought down on the 18 people, Hamas was sending a deterrent to other Palestinians. The news came as five Palestinians were killed by an Israeli air strike, the latest since Egyptian-led cease-fire talks collapsed three days ago.

Ashraf al-Kidra, a Gaza health official, said yesterday some of the victims were workers at a livestock farm that was hit in the airstrike.

The Israeli military said it carried out 20 airstrikes early yesterday, targeting rocket launchers and weapons sites. It said Gaza fighters fired two rockets at Israel.

Yesterday’s fighting came as funerals were held for three senior Hamas commanders killed by Israeli air raids.

The Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, said Mohamed Abo Shamaleh, Raed al-Attar and Mohamed Barhoum were killed in an attack in Rafah on Thursday, little more than a day after an attempt on the life of its leader Mohammed Deif.

The slain commanders’ supporters later took over the streets as their funeral procession snaked through Rafah, which bears scars of Israeli bombing from previous days.

Another 31 people were killed in other Israeli strikes in Gaza since on Thursday, raising the overall death toll to 2,087 in 46 days of conflict.  — Al Jazeera.