Hamas leader sentenced to death
A senior member of the violent Islamic group Hamas was sentenced to death by firing squad today for revealing details to Israel about five leaders of the group’s military wing who were later killed, court officials said.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat must approve the sentence before it can be carried out.
According to the prosecution, Walid Hamdiya worked with Israel in the 1980s and 1990s before he was arrested in 1995 by Palestinian police.
As the leader of the religious movement in Hamas, Hamdiya was well respected and trusted and had access to important information, the prosecution told the security court in closed hearings at Palestinian intelligence headquarters, said Judge General Abdel Aziz Wadi.
In the hearings, Hamdiya was convicted of collaborating with a foreign country to endanger Palestinian national interests and security. He was then sentenced to death by firing squad, the judge said.
Hamdiya was the key figure who lead Israeli soldiers to a leader of the Hamas military wing, Emad Akel, in 1993, the prosecution charged. Akel was killed in a gunfight with the soldiers.
Israel used information Hamdiya provided to kill four other senior militants in Hamas, according to the court decision.
Hamdiya was one of more than 400 Palestinians who were deported to Lebanon by Israel in 1992 following the kidnapping and killing of an Israeli soldier. He was already working for Israel at the time, according to the prosecution.
Palestinian police arrested Hamdiya in 1995, and he had been held without trial since then. It was not clear why the security court decided to sentence Hamdiya on today.
Israel requested in 1996 that the Palestinian police hand Hamdiya over to Israel, saying he was an Israeli citizen, but the Palestinians refused.
Three Palestinians have been killed by firing squad in accordance with sentences by security courts. Several other Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel have been shot by Palestinian police, allegedly as they tried to escape from prison. Dozens of other Palestinians suspected of working with Israeli intelligence have been gunned down by Palestinian militants.
