Hamas court sentences policeman to death for feud killing

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A court in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip sentenced a member of the radical Islamic group's security force to death Thursday for the killing of a colleague in a family feud, Hamas officials said. It was the first capital sentence handed down in Gaza since Hamas seized control of the territory last June. A tribunal, described by Hamas as a "military court" sentenced Yasser Zanoun to be executed by a firing squad, following his conviction for murdering fellow-policeman Ismail Mashwakhi shortly after Hamas violently took power in the strip from the rival Fatah movement. It sentenced two other men to life imprisonment as accomplices to the killing. It was unclear if the sentence would actually be carried out, however, as according to the Palestinian constitution the sentence is subject to final approval by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who does not recognise Hamas rule over Gaza or the jurisdiction of its tribunals.