GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — In the first ruling of its kind since the creation of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1994, a military court in Gaza City sentenced two Palestinians convicted of selling drugs to death on March 18. The court condemned others convicted of the same charges to prison with hard labor. The sentences were welcomed by many Palestinians but slammed by human rights groups.

According to the charge sheet published by the Ministry of Interior, based on intelligence received, the Palestinian Anti-Narcotics Department arrested the two while in possession of large quantities of drugs they had smuggled across the Gaza Strip’s southern border. A 2013 law on psychotropic substances allows for the execution of drug dealers in the Gaza Strip.

The head of the military court, Nasser Suleiman, told journalists on March 18 that those condemned to death had previous convictions of drug dealing but had committed the same crime again, meaning that the previous punishments had not deterred them.

He said the military court was hearing 30 cases of drug dealing. The cases had been heard previously by civilian courts, but three months ago, they were transferred to the military court as drugs are considered a threat to public security. As the crimes involve smuggling through the border areas, said Suleiman, they should be under the control of the National Security Forces.