Hamas executes 3 Palestinians as Israel kills 3 top Hamas commanders

JERUSALEM — Israeli airstrikes killed three top Hamas commanders in Gaza on Thursday, marking the most significant blow to the leadership of the Palestinian group’s armed wing in six weeks of fighting in the battle-scarred enclave.

Hamas spokesmen confirmed that Israel killed the three men, whose bodies were pulled from a demolished building in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

The killings came a day after an assassination attempt on Mohammed Deif, the top commander of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas military wing. Hamas leaders mocked Israel for failing to kill Deif, although Israeli analysts said it was possible that the organization was withholding information on his death to maintain morale.

The al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement that Mohammed Abu Shamala, Raed al-Attar and Mohammed Barhoum were killed in the al-Sultan neighborhood of Rafah.

And...

Hamas militiamen in the Gaza Strip on Thursday executed three Palestinians suspected of "collaboration" with Israel, according to Hamas-affiliated websites.

A senior Hamas security source was quoted as saying that the three, whose names were not released, were executed "after the completion of revolutionary procedures" with them...