Man dies after taken into custody by Hamas

The body of a Palestinian man was delivered to a hospital Monday, a week after he was abducted by Hamas militants in what appeared to be a new case of vigilante justice by the Islamic group following its takeover of the Gaza Strip.

Another two men were harshly beaten while in Hamas custody, including a German citizen of Palestinian origin, a human rights group said.

Walid Abu Dhalfa, 45, was nabbed last week by Hamas' Executive Force in Gaza City. Early Monday, his body was brought to Shifa Hospital with signs of suffocation, Palestinian medical officials said. Hamas said he died while trying to escape.

Hamas promised amnesty for its vanquished Fatah rivals in the Gaza Strip, which the Islamic militant group violently seized last month. But since then, at least nine Fatah loyalists have been killed, according to local human rights workers.

Abu Dhalfa was not known to be affiliated with any group, but his brother belongs to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a small, radical group, and was held in a Hamas prison until Monday, relatives said.

The relatives, speaking on condition of anonymity because they feared for their safety, said the two brothers were beaten and tortured in custody.

Abu Dhalfa's family informed human rights groups at the time of the kidnapping. The groups, however, were denied access to the Hamas compound where Abu Dhalfa was held.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights issued a statement Monday saying Abu Dhalfa was tortured in custody. It called for an immediate investigation and said that only police, not Hamas forces, should be authorized to arrest people.

Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas' military wing said Abu Dhalfa died after attempting to escape.

"He tried to run away and so the metal wire became entangled around his neck," the spokesman said at a press conference in Gaza City.

"He did not die under torture at all," he said.

Later on Monday, the human rights group reported that another four men were harshly beaten while in custody. One man, Ziad Fanous, a German citizen lost consciousness while being interrogated. He was held for 13 hours.

Some of the men were officers from the pro-Fatah intelligence apparatus, which halted work after Hamas came to power in Gaza. They were arrested on Friday from the northern Gaza Strip.

Abu Dhalfa is the second man to die in Hamas' custody under suspicious circumstances.

Last Tuesday, a 31-year-old man suspected of collaborating with Israel died in Gaza's central prison, operated by Hamas. The prison said the man died of heart failure, but a hospital report said he was strangled.

Earlier this month, The Associated Press documented the ill-treatment of four men who were taken into Hamas custody. One man was tortured, with nails banged into his legs; another two were blindfolded and beaten, to pressure them to provide information on Fatah loyalists; and another two were beaten in a police detention center following a family fight with a rival clan.

Also Monday, Hamas said its forces arrested the head of Gaza's electricity company for alleged corruption.