PALESTINIAN JUSTICE

PA to hang man for 'collaborating' with Israel
A Palestinian man was sentenced to death by hanging on Saturday after being found guilty of "collaborating" with Israel. Another three Palestinians were sentenced to prison terms ranging from three years to 10 years on the same charges. Yusef Hassan Sinwar, 31, of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip, was convicted by a Palestinian Authority civil court of assisting the IDF in tracking down and killing wanted activists. In passing the death sentence, the first by the PA in two and a half years, the judges noted that he had "undermined the power of resistance of the Palestinian people by serving as a collaborator with the enemy."

Sinwar was arrested in October 2001 by the PA's General Intelligence Force in the Gaza Strip. This is the first time that a Palestinian accused of collaboration with Israel is sentenced to death by hanging. In the past, Palestinians convicted of the same charges were sentenced to death by a firing squad. ....

Although the PA has refrained from carrying out executions of suspected collaborators over the past three years, many of those arrested were eventually killed by Fatah or Hamas gunmen.
The latest extra-judicial killing occurred in Ramallah on October 7, when Fatah gunmen raided a hospital and kidnapped 51-year-old Sami Burnat. His bullet-riddled body was found a few hours later near the Al-Amari refugee camp.

Burnat was being held by the PA security forces on charges of selling land to Jews about 20 years ago. He was taken to hospital after being severely tortured during interrogation. Another suspected collaborator who was being escorted to court by PA policemen in Ramallah was shot and killed by masked gunmen.

Sources in Gaza City told The Jerusalem Post that at least 60 "collaborators" are awaiting trial for allegedly passing on information to the Shin Bet about the whereabouts of wanted activists.