Angry family members kill alleged collaborator [in courtroom]
The Jerusalem Times (A Palestinian Publication) 18 July 2002
Palestinian angered by the killing of three relatives in an
Israeli air strike on Islamic militants burst into a courtroom on Sunday and
shot dead a man on trial for collaborating with Israeli internal security
betraying the trio, witnesses said. The three members of the Islamic
militant group Hamas died in the Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip last
month.
Abed al-Hai al-Sababy was on trial in the Gaza Strip town of
Khan Yunis on charges of betraying the Hamas men to the Israeli army, which
holds about a third of the territory with the rest in Palestinian Authority
hands.
His trial was under way on Sunday when an Israeli warplane
rocketed the nearby home in Khan Yunis of a senior Hamas militant. "During
the Israeli attack angry Palestinian families went inside the court and one
member of the Rizq family killed Al-Salaby," presiding judge Abdel Aziz Wadi
told Reuters.
Palestinian security sources said a number of people had been
detained over the shooting and an inquiry had begun. Witnesses said some of
the police guarding the courtroom ran out in response to the air strike
causing a security lapse that allowed the gunman to get in and shoot the
defendant.
Khalid al-Qadrah, chief prosecutor for Palestinian state
security, said angry relatives of the dead Hamas men assumed the Israeli air
strike was "an attempt to help al-Sababy escape." Palestinian security
services have stepped up action against those accused of helping the Israeli
army and Israel's Shin Bet secret service to locate and kill Palestinian
militants.
If he had been convicted al-Salaby would have received the death
sentence Palestinian officials said. Evidence that he had spied for the
Shin Bet, the Israeli internal intelligence service, was strong the
officials added. Palestinian courts have sentenced some collaborators to
death and at least two convicted Palestinian spies have been executed since
the outbreak in September 2000 of a Palestinian uprising for an independent
state in Gaza and the West Bank.
More than 40 Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel
have been killed by Palestinian militants. The Palestinian Authority has
condemned such vigilantism.
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