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Three Sentenced to Death in Gaza over Hamas Chief’s Killing

Published May 21st, 2017 - 01:00 GMT
Tawfiq Abu Naim (2nd L), head of Hamas-run security forces in Gaza, speaks during a press conference on the killing of senior Hamas official Mazen Faqha, in Gaza City, on May 16, 2017. (Mohammed Abed/AFP)
Tawfiq Abu Naim (2nd L), head of Hamas-run security forces in Gaza, speaks during a press conference on the killing of senior Hamas official Mazen Faqha, in Gaza City, on May 16, 2017. (Mohammed Abed/AFP)

A Gaza court condemned three men to death on Sunday, in connection to the killing of a Hamas military chief in March.

The military court ordered two of the accused to be hanged and one shot to death, following a four-day trial into the killing of Mazen Faqha who was shot dead outside his home in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas has accused Israel of masterminding the assasination with Hamas ordering the borders to be closed until the killers were found.

Hamas announced that they had caught the killer and he had confessed his crime on 11 May.

"We announce that the killer and criminal that carried out the orders of the officers of the Zionist security services is in the hands of the [Hamas] security services," Ismail Haniya told journalists in the Gaza Strip. "He has confessed to the crime."

In April, Hamas hanged three suspects in the case despite promising an amnesty to those connected with the killing.