GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- In a secret session before dawn Sunday, a Palestinian military court sentenced six Palestinians to death Sunday for collaborating with Israel, Palestinian security officials said.
The sentence of one of the accused, 15-year-old Abdel Khalim Hamdan of Khan Younis, was commuted to 15 years at hard labor because of his age, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The five others, all adults who had been arrested over the past six months, were sentenced to death for violating Palestinian security by giving information to Israel on Palestinian security installations and details on Palestinian men who were later assassinated by Israel, the court ruled.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat must approve the death sentences before they can be carried out. Some 40 similar sentences await Arafat's approval.
Killings of Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel have become almost a daily occurrence as the fighting with Israel has intensified in recent weeks. Last week, Palestinian militants killed 10 Palestinians on one day for allegedly cooperating with Israel. In the West Bank city of Ramallah last month, the corpse of an accused collaborator was strung up from a monument in the center of town.
