Hamas executed 18 people on Friday (August 22) in the streets of Gaza City in the middle of the day, in front of hundreds of worshipers emerging from the Great Mosque of Gaza, after accusing them of collaborating with Israel. Several others had been executed the previous day. Two of the suspected informers were reportedly women.

While Palestinian militants have executed suspected collaborators in past conflicts with Israel, the number of executions over the two days was unprecedented. Local and international rights groups condemned the executions.

The mosque's imam had reportedly asked worshippers to inform Hamas security officials about anyone suspected of behaving strangely, or asking about fighters. Pictures showed a group of men, with their heads covered and hands tied behind their backs, kneeling against a wall. Masked Hamas fighters dressed in black and armed with AK47s pushed to them to the ground before shooting them.

A notice attached to a wall detailed the charges against one suspect who had provided "information to the enemy on the places of mujahideen [fighters], standing positions, tunnels, the places of explosive devices, and their houses and rockets", allowing Israel to target its air strikes.