Hamas Kills Suspected Collaborators With Israel

Masked gunmen publicly shot dead six suspected collaborators with Israel in a large Gaza City intersection Tuesday, witnesses said. An Associated Press reporter saw a mob surrounding five of the bloodied corpses soon after the killing. Some in the crowd stomped and spit on the bodies, and a sixth corpse was tied to a motorcycle and dragged through the streets as people screamed, "Spy! Spy!" The Hamas military wing, Izzedine al-Qassam, claimed responsibility, saying the six were killed because they gave Israel information about fighters and rocket launching sites. Israel relies on a network of local informers to identify its targets in Gaza; the killings brought to eight the number of suspected informers being shot dead in public since Israel began its military offensive against Hamas last Wednesday. On Friday, the body of one alleged informer was found in a garbage bin, and another was shot dead in the street. Hamas claimed responsibility for both.