Hamas sentences man to death for 'collaborating' with Israel

JERUSALEM- A Hamas military court in the Gaza Strip on Thursday sentenced a Palestinian to be hanged to death after he was found guilty of collaborating with Israel, a court source said.

The defendant, identified only by his initials A.S., was "sentenced to death by hanging after being convicted of collaborating with the occupation," the source said.

There were no further details on the allegations against him.

Under Palestinian law, those convicted of collaborating, murder or drug trafficking face the death penalty.

All execution orders must in theory be approved by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas before they can be carried out, but Hamas, the Islamist movement that rules the Gaza Strip, no longer recognises his legitimacy.

At least one Palestinian accused of collaborating with Israel has been sentenced to death this year in the occupied West Bank.

In Gaza, beyond death sentences handed out by courts, Hamas has also carried out summary executions for collaborating with Israel, sometimes in public places.

The most prominent occurred during last summer's 50-day war between Palestinian militants in the territory and Israel, when a firing squad of men in uniforms from Hamas' armed wing shot dead six people in front of Gaza City's main mosque.