Saeb Erekat slams Hamas executions

Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, threatens Hamas, saying those responsible for the execution of three men in Gaza would be held responsible under Palestinian law.

Erekat calls the men who carried out Tuesday’s executions Hamas’s “militia,” and said the group has no legal right to carry out such measures. Hamas says it tried and found all three men guilty of murder.

Under Palestinian law, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas must sign off on any execution. In disregarding the law, Hamas claimed that the executions were needed to preserve “security and stability” in the Strip, and asserted that the protestations by Fatah officials after it announced its plans for the executions were aimed at sowing chaos.

— Dov Lieber