JERUSALEM — Hamas terrorists have executed 32 Palestinians amid fierce clashes in recent days with groups in Gaza opposed to the radical Islamist Hamas, Reuters reported Oct. 13.
Reuters cited a “Palestinian security source,” who also said that six Hamas terrorists were killed in the violence.
Meanwhile, Hamas has slow-walked its promised return of the hostages it murdered, and also returned one body who was not a captive. As Israel rejoiced over the freed hostages, it also endured dead hostages’ funerals.
Video circulating on social media Oct. 14 appeared to show masked Hamas gunmen publicly executing men in what CNN reported was the Sabra neighborhood in western Gaza City, in an incident that likely took place after the ceasefire with Israel entered into force Oct. 10.
Radaa, a Hamas-affiliated security force, said it carried out a “precise operation” in central Gaza City that killed people whom it called “wanted men” and “suspected criminals.”
Palestinian NGO the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights termed it the “extrajudicial execution of citizens,” CNN reported, calling for an investigation into the incident and for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.
The office of Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas condemned the killings as “heinous crimes” and “a blatant violation of human rights,” according to the official PA news agency Wafa.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry tweeted the execution video Oct. 14, writing:
“The ceasefire isn’t 100 hours old yet. Hamas is killing Palestinians.
“The terror group rules through fear — executing civilians, torturing dissenters, shooting those who dare protest.
“Palestinians seeking food or freedom are met with bullets, not compassion. It’s not resistance—It’s tyranny. Hamas must go.”
Asked about his message for Hamas after the reports that the terrorist group is rearming and reinstituting itself as a police force and shooting rival clans, Trump said Oct 13 on Air Force One that “they do want to stop the problems and they’ve been open about it. We gave them approval for a period of time. You have to understand. They’ve lost probably 60,000 people. That’s a lot of retribution . . . and the ones that are living right now were in many cases very young when this all started, and we are having them watch that there’s not going to be big crime, some of the problems that you have.
“When you have areas like this that have been literally demolished. You have two million people, probably it will be less than that, but you have two million people going back to buildings that have been demolished, and a lot of bad things can happen. We want it to be safe.
“I think it’s going to be fine. Who knows for sure, Katie [the reporter who asked the question], but I think it’s going to be fine.”
Trump later said he will hold Hamas to its pledge to disarm and accused the terrorist group of misrepresenting the number of dead hostages it holds.
Speaking at the White House on Oct. 14, the president said his “people” were told by Hamas that it would disarm, as is called for in the Israel-Hamas peace plan that Trump put together with mediation from key Arab leaders.
Israel and Hamas both agreed to the plan, setting into motion the ceasefire and the subsequent exchange of hostages and Palestinian security prisoners.
“I spoke to Hamas, and I said, ‘You’re going to disarm, right?’ ‘Yes, sir. We’re going to disarm.’ That’s what they told me,” Trump told reporters, initially describing it as a direct conversation.
“We have told them we want them to disarm, and they will disarm. And if they don’t disarm, we will disarm them, and it’ll happen quickly and perhaps violently, but they will disarm,” Trump said.
He later explained that Hamas’ affirmed pledge to disarm was delivered to him not by the terrorist group directly, but by “people,” likely referring to US peace deal negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
