Palestinians accused of conspiring with Israel executed in Gaza

Hailey Brown — The Gaza Interior Ministry announced the execution  of five Palestinians this week, two of whom were executed for their alleged cooperation with Israel. This series of executions is the first in five years. Palestine and Israel have a tense, conflict filled history, of which Gaza is a particularly contentious area. The execution and its impact can be explained through the concept of geopolitical codes. 

Geopolitical codes define how countries position themselves in the global neighborhood. They outline who a country's enemies and allies are and how they then interact with them. Hamas, the militant group which controls Gaza’s government, is concerned with the threat of Israel infiltrating its government, because they view Israel as an enemy. Thus, the authorities take different steps to quell this threat. The New York Times noted that the government placed signs that warn against working with Israel on the crossing point of the boundary between Gaza and Israel. However, they typically do not allow Palestinians entrance into Israel from Gaza. The Gazan authorities identified the two Palestinians as a threat to their security for alleged crimes of cooperation with Israel. Execution was seen as an adequate response to this potential threat, despite infrequent use of the death penalty. It is a more direct, harsh method of dealing with the threats related to Israel than other mediating actions, and sends a loud message from the government to both the global neighborhood and those living in Gaza that Hamas will exercise strong means to protect themselves from Israel.

The execution is also a form of ideological power. Ideological power persuades others to accept a country's agenda and act in favor of it. The execution, under the view of ideological power, was a scare tactic to prevent further collaborations between Palestinians and Israel. In the past, those accused of working with Israel have been arrested and sentenced to death, but these were the first executions carried out in the last five years.