Islamist terror group Hamas publicly executed six men using AK-47s outside a mosque in front of hundreds of spectators including children, a report will reveal today.

Hamas, the largest of several Palestinian military Islamist groups, announced the men were ‘collaborators’ who had been sentenced to death in ‘revolutionary courts’.

The hooded men were dragged along the floor to kneel by a wall facing the crowd, then each man was shot in the head individually before being sprayed with bullets fired from an AK-47.

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Shocking: The conflict between Israel and Gaza lasted for just over six weeks last summer, during which time a number of 'collaborators' were executed unlawfully, according to Amnesty International

Unlawful: Relatives were confronted with the bodies of loved ones riddled with bullets (left), while others returned home after being tortured like this man, right, who was burned with acid and violently beaten

Amnesty International Middle East and North Africa Director Philip Luther said: ‘These spine-chilling actions, some of which amount to war crimes, were designed to exact revenge and spread fear across the Gaza strip.’

Hamas abducted, tortured and unlawfully killed dozens of Palestinians accused of ‘collaborating’ with Israel during last year’s Gaza conflict, the report claims.

The 44-page report, by Amnesty International, reveals a series of abuses by the militant organisation, including the execution of at least 23 Palestinians and the arrest and torture of dozens of others.

These included the members and supporters of Hamas’s political rivals, Fatah.

Many of the unlawful killings were publicly described as attacks against people assisting Israel during the 2014 conflict, as part of an operation codenamed Strangling Neck to target ‘collaborators’.

But in reality at least 16 of those executed had been in Hamas custody since before the conflict broke out.

Distraught: Some of the families were not told their loved ones had been executed until afterwards Picture: A Palestinian overcome by emotion watches rescuers carry a body from the rubble

Revenge?: Eleven men were executed soon after three high-ranking Hamas officials were killed in airstrikes

Atta Najjar, a former police officer under the Palestinian Authority who had a mental disability, was serving a 15-year prison term imposed by a military court after he was arrested in 2009 and subsequently convicted of 'collaborating' with Israel.

But on August 22 last year, the 45-year-old was executed alongside 10 others outside Katiba Prison in Gaza City.

'They killed someone who was not a danger to them,' said his brother, who revealed Najjar's body had signs of torture - including both his legs being broken - as well as being riddled with bullets.

'He’d almost finished his sentence. He’d worn himself out for three years going to courts, and being tortured.'

Najjar's family, like many others, were not warned their loved ones were about to be executed: some were still awaiting the outcome of their trials when they were taken away from prison and summarily executed.

CONFLICTING CLAIMS AROUND DEATH OF THE SON OF A HAMAS FOUNDER Ayman Taha was the son of one of Hamas' founders, and was apparently shot in August Ayman Taha - the son of one of Hamas' founders - was killed on August 7, a month into the fighting. Officially it was reported that he had been killed in an Israeli air raid. But a report into his death revealed he had bullet wounds to the head and chest. What's more, the report claimed he had actually been killed three days earlier, on August 4, the Amnesty Report claims. Taha - the former representative to Egypt’s intelligence authorities - disappeared on January 23 last year, allegedly detained by the al-Qassam Brigades. On February 22, Hamas said it was holding him on charges of misconduct, corruption and profiteering. Amnesty International is not aware of any formal charges brought against Ayman Taha. Advertisement

Among those people was Ibrahim Dabour, a father-of-two being held at Katiba Prison in Gaza City while he was standing trial before a military court on a charge of 'communicating with hostile sides'.

He hadn't yet been sentenced when he was executed by firing squad on August 22 at about 9.30am. His family were finally informed at 1pm.

'The masked gunmen just shot them and left, hoping that people would stone them,' his brother told Amnesty.

'It was horrible, the way these matters are dealt with, it’s barbaric to execute people in public, and they have wives and children.

'The military courts are just a sham, a game. The 11 men were executed one day after three leaders were targeted in Rafah.

'Why were the 11 not executed at the beginning of the war? The only explanation is that it was just revenge and conflict between the media, security, and military at the expense of innocent people.'

Getting away with it: Not one person has been held to account over the crimes committed by Hamas against Palestinians, the report revealed

Others have described how they were tortured with severe beatings using truncheons, gun butts, hoses and wire or held in stress positions to force them into admitting 'crimes' against the state.

One man, named only as M.S., revealed: 'The beatings continued and they put gas pipes in my mouth then and poured acid on my hands.

'I could not bare the pain. From then on, I agreed to everything they wanted me to confess to.'

M.S.'s brother is believed to have been one of the men shot dead in front of the mosque: they took him because they claimed his brother was working with the West Bank intelligence service.

