GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Hamas' Interior Ministry executed three citizens convicted of assassinating Mazen Faqha, a former prisoner in Israel and senior operative in Hamas’ military wing. Faqha was shot dead March 24 in front of his house in Tel al-Hawa in the south of Gaza.

The men were executed May 25, only four days after a field military court in Gaza issued death sentences for the convicted killer Ashraf Abu Leila (execution by hanging), and his accomplices, Hisham Alloul (execution by hanging) and Abdullah al-Nashar (execution by firing squad). They were convicted of spying for Israel, surveilling Faqha and providing information that facilitated his assassination.

During a press conference to reveal the identity of Faqha’s killers May 11, Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas’ political bureau, said he considered the discovery of details about the assassination “a military, security and strategic accomplishment.” However, there have been issues raised surrounding the trial's speed and legal proceedings, all of which happened in the space of only 15 days.

Haniyeh said the killer confessed to committing the crime on Israeli orders. Haniyeh indicated that Hamas' penal code calls for the formation of a field military court in emergencies and times of war, both of which were applicable in this specific case. Such courts were defined in the 1979 Revolutionary Penal Code as a judicial entity with absolute powers whose verdicts are not subject to appeal.