Haunting images of Palestinian men condemned to death by Hamas have emerged online after it was reported that up to 18 were summarily executed for allegedly “collaborating” with Israel.

The men were fatally shot on Friday according to local reports in “a public park and a bus stop near Al Azhar University in Gaza City, not far from the central prison where they were believed to have been held. Seven others, their hands tied behind their backs, were killed outside Al Omri mosque downtown after noon prayer,” The New York Times reported.

A witness speaking to The Times said, “The spies had their heads covered and were sitting by the wall outside the mosque. There were about 20 masked gunmen in the area. One of them said loudly that the death sentence is going to be carried out against seven collaborators.”

Gaza’s Interior Ministry declined to address the executions but Hamas has an extensive history of brutally eliminating suspected collaborators.

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The slayings came just days after Israel killed top Hamas commanders in Gaza airstrikes, possibly with information from local informants, and may have been intended to send a message to others.

During Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012 gruesome images of Hamas fighters dragging the bodies of slain suspected informants behind motorcycles made headline news.

Last month Hamas militants killed at least 25 Gazan civilians suspected of collaborating with Israel, according to reports, and then blamed Israel for their deaths.