A Palestinian Authority firing squad has executed two men convicted of raping and murdering a seven-year-old girl in a refugee camp.
The two men were convicted last night by a Palestinian court of taking the child last week to a deserted area near the Rafah refugee camp where they lived and raping her.
The two then hit her with a blunt object and buried her, the court said. Her body was found on Saturday.
The men, who pleaded guilty to the charges, were executed at a security headquarters in Gaza City, Palestinian security officials said. Hospital officials confirmed their deaths soon after.
Palestinian courts have handed out several death sentences since the Palestinian Authority received control of parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1994, but few of the verdicts have been carried out.
In January 2001, the Authority executed two men convicted of helping Israeli forces track and kill Palestinian militants fighting against Israeli occupation.
The executions drew criticism from Palestinian and international human rights organisations who urged the Authority to end use of the death penalty.
