With Avigdor Liberman appointed as minister of defense, Israel is now debating Liberman's demands for the death penalty for terrorists. At the same time, the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip has been preparing to execute Palestinian criminals. Hamas already executed three Gazans convicted of murder on May 30.

On May 26, before the execution of the three Palestinian prisoners, the deputy leader of Hamas' political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, announced that the organization had decided to execute 13 Palestinian prisoners who had been sentenced to death previously. Hamas also announced that the executions would take place publicly in Gaza City’s Palestine Square to serve as a deterrent.

Haniyeh’s announcement sent shockwaves through Palestinian society, pitting Gaza against Ramallah and supporters of the death penalty against its opponents, including the Palestinian Authority. In response to criticism by Gazan human rights organizations, Hamas went back on its plan to conduct the executions in Palestine Square. Instead, Hamas explained that the executions would take place in a closed compound in front of journalists, who will be permitted to photograph and film the events and then air the images to show how Hamas is actively fighting crime. The first execution took place in the Gaza prison.

Ever since the 2007 coup in Gaza, the leaders of Hamas have boasted to me about how they have managed to restore order and safety to Gaza after the “chaos,” which is how they describe the disorder that threatened Palestinian society in the days of PLO leader Yasser Arafat and later, when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ruled the Gaza Strip. The problem that Hamas is now facing is that its own regime is coming under harsh criticism with the sharp increase in local crime.