Gaza’s Hamas rulers executed three Palestinians convicted of murder without the required approval of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The Interior Ministry said the executions took place on Tuesday at the central prison, after the victims’ families rejected the possibility of a last-minute pardon.
It is for the first time that Hamas has applied the death penalty since a unified government was installed in the West Bank and Gaza, after an agreement with Abbas’ Fatah party in 2014.
Hamas remained the de facto authority, preventing the government from extending control over Gaza.
During the 2014 Israel-Hamas war, the Islamic militant group extra-judicially killed 23 Palestinians suspected of spying for Israel. Since 2007, it has executed 19 others convicted of murder or collaboration.
International and local rights group had urged Hamas not to carry out the executions.