The death of Mahmoud Ishtiwi had all the trappings of a
telenovela: sex, torture and embezzlement in Gaza’s most venerated and
secretive institution, the armed wing of Hamas.
Mr. Ishtiwi, 34, was a
commander from a storied family of Hamas loyalists who, during the 2014 war
with Israel, was responsible for 1,000 fighters and a network of attack
tunnels.
Last month, his former comrades executed him with three
bullets to the chest. Adding a layer of scandal to the story, he was accused of
moral turpitude, by which Hamas meant homosexuality.
And there were whispers that he had carved the word “zulum” —
wronged — into his body in a desperate kind of last testament.