Hamas kills suspected collaborators with Israel

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Masked gunmen publicly shot dead six suspected collaborators with Israel at a large Gaza City intersection on Tuesday, witnesses said.

Some in the crowd stomped and spat on the bodies. A sixth corpse was tied to a motorcycle and dragged through the streets as people screamed, "Spy! Spy!" The Hamas military wing, Izzedine al-Qassam, claimed responsibility in a large handwritten note attached to a nearby electricity pole.

Hamas said the six were killed because they gave Israel information about fighters and rocket launching sites. Hamas did not provide any proof of the alleged collaboration.

The killing came on the seventh day of an Israeli military offensive that has killed more than 120 Palestinians, both militants and civilians. Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes, targeting rocket-launching sites, weapons caches and homes of Hamas activists, as Palestinians fired hundreds of rockets at Israel.