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A CNN VICE documentary claims:

We visited Gaza's central prison, where drug users and drug smugglers alike are locked in a communal cell, their sentences ranging anywhere from one month, to death by hanging.

The New York Times goes on to say:

Palestinian law allows for the death penalty for people convicted of collaboration with Israel, murder or drug trafficking. Execution orders are supposed to be approved by the president of the Palestinian Authority, but Hamas does not recognize Mr. Abbas’s presidency and did not seek his approval.

Does Hamas execute drug users? Just traffickers? And, are there any examples of this law being enforced? Is it routine to execute people for drug offenses?

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  • although the law came into effect in 2009, there seem to be no executions carried out due to drugs. http://www.ihra.net/files/2012/11/13/Death_penalty_2012_Tipping_the_Scales_Web.pdf – bummi Apr 09 '13 at 06:24
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    which means nothing. Has anyone actually been convicted... Or have they been executed but on paper for other things (I can imagine Hamas branding everyone caught as being a "Zionist agent" for example on general principle). – jwenting Apr 09 '13 at 09:26
  • They adopted the Egyptian law in that respect in 2010, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3956631,00.html – Ofir Apr 09 '13 at 13:14
  • If the law is anything like the one in Saudi Arabia (a country that shares their ideological background to an extent), then only drug traffickers are subject to capital punishment. – System Down Apr 09 '13 at 20:05
  • @SystemDown Wikipedia claims that Saudi Arabia executed someone for "sorcery" in 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_Saudi_Arabia – Andrew Grimm Apr 12 '13 at 08:24
  • @AndrewGrimm - Yes that's true. Several people in fact. But narcotics wise, they only execute traffickers. – System Down Apr 12 '13 at 16:52
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    So far, out of the triad of murder, arson and jaywalking (e.g. drugs, murder and collaboration with Israel) most of reports on Ma'an or AlArabya are for death penalty for the latter, a couple for murder, and **NONE for drugs** that I could find. Not a proof but a good indicator that it's quite rare. However, tons of comments from Palestinians on the news sites were to the effect of "that's because Hamas controls the drug trade like Taliban does" - not sure whether there's any proof of that but fits the known pattern with Taliban and Hezbollah. – user5341 Apr 16 '13 at 21:04
  • There is no claim that they did. The links about Palestinian law, not about Hamas or executions – Sklivvz Aug 30 '14 at 13:52

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