In a statement on its website, it said "The Martyr Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades at 16:00 pm on Sunday, 28 April 1437 H corresponding 7-2-2016, implementated the death sentence against a member of the al-Qassam Brigades, Mahmoud Rushdie Eshtewi, by military courts and the sharia judiciary of the al-Qassam Brigades for behavioral and moral excesses."
Usually, when Hamas executes a suspected spy or "collaborator" with Israel, they do not announce his name. Either this is a change of policy or he was sentenced to death for some other equally heinous crime, like homosexuality.
Palestine Press Agency says that this is the first time Hamas has ever executed one of its own members. Eshtawi was arrested last summer and his family has been staging sit-ins to find out his fate. According to the article, he was ranked fairly highly and had been the target of Israeli airstrikes.
It will be interesting to see how strongly "human rights" organizations denounce this application of the death penalty - if at all.
(h/t Bob Knot)
UPDATE: TOI adds:
Websites linked to the Palestinian Fatah group had in the past alleged that Eshtawi had led Israel to the hiding place of Hamas commander Muhammed Deif during the 2014 Gaza war, resulting in a failed assassination attempt against him, according to Israel Radio.
Executions have previously been carried out in the Gaza Strip, including in public squares in the Palestinian territory, but it appeared to be the first time Al-Qassam itself had sentenced one of its own through a court martial and executed him.
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