Gaza City: A family in Gaza “executed” one of its own members Friday forpassing on information to Israel that led to the deaths of three Hamasmilitants, Palestinian sources said.

Hamas, which rules the territory, held Ahmad Said Barhoum for severalmonths without trial before handing him over to the family, several ofwhose members belong to the Islamist movement.

Witnesses said Barhoum was shot dead in an open area of Rafah in southernGaza shortly after the handover.

The shooting was attended by family members of the three Hamas militantskilled in an Israeli air raid in the 2014 Gaza war with Israel.

One of the three killed was Mohammad Barhoum, a cousin of the allegedcollaborator. All were militants of Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedineal-Qassam Brigades.

“We carried out the punishment against our son Ahmad Said Barhoum afterhaving been assured without a shadow of a doubt that he was implicated inthe assassination of the terrorists, the family said in a statement.

Hamas, for its part, welcomed what it called “the execution of thiscriminal”.

According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Hamas has carried outmore than 20 executions and condemned to death over 100 others since itseized control of Gaza in 2007 from rival faction Fatah.

Its execution of Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel hasstirred international condemnation.