Gaza calls for death penalty
Citizens in the Gaza Strip are pressuring Hamas to implement the death penalties in cases of murders, robberies and physical attacks, without awaiting the endorsement of President Mahmoud Abbas.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Over the last three years, murders in cases of theft, robbery and physical attack in the Gaza Strip have become common. Money changer Ameen Sharab from Khan Yunis was stabbed to death in a robbery attack on May 30, 2013. Mohammed Mahdi and his nephew Anas Tammous from Deir al-Balah refugee camp were killed against the backdrop of a family dispute on June 24, 2013. Aliyan al-Talbani from Deir al-Balah city was killed in an armed robbery on July 31, 2013. Money changer Fadel al-Astal from Khan Yunis was killed in a fight over bank checks in May 2014. Hammad Dughmosh from Gaza City was killed against the backdrop of a dispute with Abed Rabbo Abu Madin on April 25, 2016; and most recently, on May 13, Thouraya al-Badri from Gaza City was killed in an armed robbery.
There has been a significant increase in the crime rate in Gaza over the past few years. According to statistics of the public prosecutor's office, approximately 40 people were murdered in 2013, 168 in 2014 and 28 in 2015. Most murders were committed for purely criminal reasons or due to disputes resulting from bad economic conditions and the spread of poverty and unemployment.
