Eight years after his execution, the name of Mahmoud Ishtiwi is still whispered in the Gaza Strip by those in Hamas who oppose the iron rule of Yahya Sinwar, its chief in the territory.
Executions within Hamas are hardly rare, but that of Ishtiwi was different. He was no ordinary operative accused of “immoral” acts or passing on information to the Israelis but the commander of the Zeitoun battalion, one of the battle-hardened units in Hamas, and came from a family whose members had all been prominently active in the movement for decades.
