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Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Hamas Political Violence in Gaza

The consistent double standards shown in reporting on Israel has been mentioned quite often and although we won't see much of this in the major media outlets, the Human Rights Watch has just issued a 26-page report documenting "detentions, torture, maimings by shooting, and extrajudicial executions by alleged members of Hamas security forces."

PDF of report here.

Download it, read it.

Called "Under Cover Of War" subheader "Hamas Political Violence in Gaza."

From JPost:

The internal violence in the Gaza Strip has continued since Israel withdrew its forces and Palestinian human rights groups have reported 14 more killings between January 18 and March 31, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Monday.

The 26-page document, "Under Cover of War: Hamas Political Violence in Gaza," presents a pattern of arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture, maiming by shooting and extrajudicial executions by alleged members of Hamas security forces. The report is based on interviews with victims and witnesses in Gaza and case reports by Palestinian human rights groups.

The majority of Palestinians executed by other Palestinians during Israel's military operations were men accused of collaboration with Israel. Along with others, they had escaped from Gaza City's main prison compound after the IAF bombed the facility on December 28, 2008. In addition to the 32 killings mentioned above, the relatives of one suspected collaborator shot him to death "to restore the family's honor."

Hamas security forces have also used violence against Fatah members, especially those who had worked in the Fatah-run security services of the Palestinian Authority.

"Of particular concern is the widespread practice of maiming people by shooting them in the legs, which Hamas first used in June 2007, when it seized control of the Gaza Strip," the report said.


Make sure to read that entire piece as well.

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