Hamas kills a local commander for unnamed 'violations'

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza, said Sunday it has killed one of its own commanders over unnamed "moral and behavioral violations."

Hamas said in a short Twitter statement Mahmoud Eshtewi, a local member of the group's military wing, was killed after he confessed.

It said the decision to kill Eshtewi, who was detained in January 2015, was taken by its "military and religious judiciary," a previously unheard-of department.

Hamas seized the Gaza Strip from forces loyal to the Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007.

During periods of fighting against Israel, Hamas has killed dozens of Palestinians it accused of spying.

The group is not known to have killed its own members during peacetime, and the vague language used in the statement indicated Eshtewi was killed for reasons other than spying.

"We are shocked," his sister, Buthaina, screamed over the phone. "He can't be executed based on the reasons they provide."

She said Hamas officials had met the family in the morning and told them they were considering his release.

"They tricked us," she said.

Eshtewi's relatives said they had been allowed to visit him only three times during the year he was detained.

They said he was not found guilty of spying, without elaborating.