Crowds cheer as Hamas parades dead bodies after executing two Palestine civilians accused of spying for Israel

Amid the Israel-Hamas war, two men who were accused of spying for Israel were put to death in the West Bank. The crowd cheered as their bodies were dragged through alleys and then hung from a pylon. As per reports, members of Palestinian armed groups shot and killed the two men on Friday in the West Bank city of Tulkarm. Speaking under pseudonymity out of concern for retaliation, a Palestinian journalist in the camp claimed the men had been beaten and tramped on by camp inhabitants before being strung up from an electrical tower and thrown into a skip. Videos depict hundreds of Palestinians swarming around the camp’s entrance while using their phones to record the violence. As per a Palestinian security officer, the two men were charged with aiding Israeli security forces to target Hamas during a raid that resulted in the deaths of three important terrorists earlier this month. The two purported informants, one from the refugee camp where the killings took place, were in their late 20s and early 30s, respectively. There was “no immunity for any informant or traitor,” according to a statement from the Tulkarm Brigades, a Fatah-affiliated organization with headquarters in the West Bank city of Tulkarm. It said of any such individual, “We are on the lookout for him and we will hold him accountable.” A man appeared to be confessing to working with Israeli security services and providing details of his activities in footage shared on the Tulkarm Brigades Telegram channel. Anyone involved in any way with Israeli security services had until December 5th, according to a statement from the Tulkarm Brigades, to come forward and express regret. In a statement, the family of one of the whistleblowers attempted to distance themselves, referring to their disgraced relative as a “malicious finger that we have cut off without regret”. The family continued, “We will not allow anyone to blame us for his guilt. We affirm our complete innocence.” Confirming that Palestinian security forces were aware of the incident was a second Palestinian official who spoke on the same condition of anonymity. The public prosecutor’s office announced that it will provide information regarding the police investigation into the killings in the next few days. Following the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7 and the Israeli army’s reaction in Gaza, the situation in the occupied West Bank has become more violent.