Hamas says it executed looters in Gaza, claims some working with Israel

Hamas has executed a number of alleged looters after several incidents in which heavily armed gangs attacked food stores and community kitchens in the Gaza Strip this week, sources close to the Palestinian terror group say.

Hamas officials have accused some of the looters of working in collaboration with Israel, which has sealed off aid from entering Gaza for the past two months.

Israel says Hamas regularly steals and hoards humanitarian aid intended for the civilian population.

In one incident, the Hamas-run interior ministry says a police officer was killed and others were wounded when an Israeli drone fired a missile at a police unit chasing criminals in Gaza City.

“We will strike with an iron fist all these renegades, and we will take the necessary measures to deter them, no matter the cost, and we will not allow them to continue terrorizing citizens, threatening their lives, and stealing their property,” the ministry says in a statement, referring to the alleged looters.

Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of Gaza’s Hamas-run government media office, says some of the looters acted under a clan umbrella and others acted as organized groups, some of whom he says received direct support from Israel. He says a number of “revolutionary execution rulings” have been carried out against “several top criminals” proven to have been involved in looting.