A Hamas court on Wednesday sentenced a Palestinian man to death by hanging after convicting him of killing an activist who murdered his father for allegedly collaborating with Israel.
Shadi al-Sufi, 38, was found guilty of killing Jaber al-Qeeq, a former activist with the PLO’s Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
He belonged to a cell that brutally murdered Subhi al-Sufi, a resident of the town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, during the First Intifada, which erupted in late 1987.
The victim was reportedly hacked to death in front of his wife and children.
Qeeq’s terrorist cell was responsible for the abduction and murder of a number of Palestinians suspected of collaboration with Israel.
More than 1,000 suspected collaborators with Israel were murdered by Palestinians during the First Intifada.
Qeeq was arrested by Israeli authorities and sentenced to a lengthy prison term for his role in the murder of Sufi and other suspected collaborators.
He was released shortly after the signing of the Oslo I Accord between Israel and the PLO in 1993. Although he belonged to the PFLP, which rejected the Oslo Accords, Qeeq was recruited to the Palestinian Authority security forces with the rank of colonel.
Qeeq was killed last year by three assailants. One of them was immediately identified as Shadi al-Sufi, whose father was murdered by the PFLP activist more than 30 years ago.
After the assassination of Qeeq, the main suspect (Shadi al-Sufi) posted a message on Facebook in which he wrote: “My father, I have cried for 32 years over your absence. Today, I laughed with all my heart. Rest in peace. I have slaughtered your adversary like a goat.”
The PFLP and other Palestinian groups, including Fatah, demanded that Hamas impose the death penalty on all those involved in the killing of Qeeq.
Hamas courts have issued at least 10 death sentences during 2020, according to Palestinian human rights organizations.
Sufi was arrested two months after the assassination of Qeeq. His trial lasted three months, and the death sentence was handed down on Wednesday morning.
Four members of his family who were charged with complicity in the assassination of Qeeq were sentenced to 10-15 years in prison with hard labor. A fifth man was sentenced to three years in prison.