HAMAS executed 18 alleged Israeli spies today, including seven who were lined up behind a mosque and publicly shot after midday prayers.

Two of those killed were women, according to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, which called for an immediate halt to “extra-judicial executions.”

The Al Majd website, which is close to the Hamas security services, said suspects would now be dealt with “in the field” rather than via courts, in order to create a deterrence.

And the Hamas-run Al Rai said the same punishment would soon be imposed on others.

Hamas said it would not release the names of those killed because it wanted to protect the reputation of their families. 

Yesterday’s events began with the shooting of 11 alleged informants at the Gaza City police headquarters in the morning. 

Later in the day, seven men were shot outside the city’s al-Omari mosque as worshippers were wrapping up noon prayers. 

The executions were seen as an immediate response to the killing of three top Hamas military leaders in an airstrike on Thursday.

Israel’s intelligence services have maintained a network of informers despite its withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, using blackmail or the lure of exit permits to win co-operation.

Meanwhile, An Israeli airstrike on a Gaza farm killed two Palestinians and wounded three others as fighting continued for a third day after the collapse of Egyptian-led cease-fire talks.

by midmorning yesterday Israel had launched about 20 airstrikes at Gaza, while Gazan fighters fired two rockets at Israel, the Israeli military said.

The Israeli strikes targeted concealed rocket launchers and weapons sites, they added.

Since fighting erupted on July 8, at least 2,086 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza health official Ashraf al-Kidra.

Nearly a quarter of the dead — 469 — are children, according to Gaza's top Unicef field officer, Pernilla Ironside. 

Of the more than 10,400 Palestinians wounded nearly a third are children, according to Unicef figures, while 100,000 Gazans have been left homeless.

On the Israeli side, 67 people have been killed in the past six weeks.