In the wake of its peace deal with Israel, the terrorist group Hamas is back on the streets of the Gaza Strip in an attempt, it says, to restore law and order, as well as to send a message.
In one video obtained by CBS News on Wednesday, Hamas fighters can be seen among armed men standing over Palestinians they accused of being gang members collaborating with Israel. Moments later, they execute them.
The disturbing images are part of a long pattern of punishment meted out to suspected collaborators, according to Israeli hostage negotiator Gershon Baskin.
"Hamas is killing them because they can," Baskin told CBS News. "Hamas is a criminal organization that has ruled the Palestinian people in Gaza for almost 20 years. This is not a democratic, liberal regime."
Baskin explains that Palestinian militia groups that are opposed to Hamas had been armed by Israel during the war in an effort to weaken Hamas' power.
"Israel has empowered, with weapons and money, gangs of Palestinians who were involved in mostly illegal activities in the past — selling drugs, illegal smuggling — and they've empowered them as an alternative to Hamas," Baskin said. "This is not sustainable."
President Trump on Tuesday appeared to acknowledge that Hamas was engaged in violence against Palestinian militia groups.
"They did take out a couple of gangs that were very bad gangs, very, very bad," Mr. Trump said of Hamas while speaking with reporters. "And that didn't bother me much, to be honest with you."
The U.S. peace deal, still in its first phase, eventually calls for an interim governing body made up of "qualified Palestinians and international experts" and overseen by a "Board of Peace" chaired by Mr. Trump, but that has yet to be established.
"There is no governance in Gaza, there are no schools, there are no government ministries, there's nowhere for anyone to go to get any help," Baskin said. There is a vacuum of a governance in Gaza right now."
Hamas fighters execute Palestinians in Gaza
Hamas fighters execute Palestinians they accuse of collaborating with Israel
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