Gaza´s Hamas rulers on Saturday executed a Palestinian convicted of collaborating with Israel and two others deemed complicit in murder, the interior ministry said.

The ministry said in a statement that the three men were hanged in a "security centre" in Gaza City.

It was the first time this year that the Islamist movement had carried out an execution of someone accused of "collaborating" with the Israelis.

The statement did not give the men´s names, ages or any other information.

The last time the death sentence for aiding Israel was carried out was in July 2011, when two Palestinians were executed on the charge. A month later, three more people were executed on charges unrelated to collaboration, human rights groups say.

Israeli security forces routinely use Palestinian informers to thwart militant attacks and assist in the assassination of top militants. In March, a military court in Gaza condemned to death a 27-year-old Palestinian convicted of "treason" for allegedly cooperating with Israel, but did not publish his name.

Since the start of this year, authorities in Gaza have announced two other death sentences, one against a man convicted of "collaborating" with Israel, the other found guilty of killing his brother.

It was not clear if any or all of those were hanged on Saturday. London-based human rights organisation Amnesty International on Thursday named one man facing the death sentence as Mohammed Baraka and said three others also faced capital punishment.

"Following a recent appeal rejection, his execution could take place at any time. Three other men have also had their appeals rejected recently, and remain on death row," Amnesty said in a statement. It could not immediately be verified if Baraka was among those executed on Saturday.

Under Palestinian law, collaboration with Israel, murder and drug trafficking are all punishable by death.

All execution orders must be approved by the Palestinian president before they can be carried out, but Hamas no longer recognises the legitimacy of Mahmud Abbas, whose four-year term ended in 2009.

In recent months, Hamas has arrested several alleged collaborators, and warned it would prosecute any "traitor" working for the Jewish state. (Copyright © 2012 Agence France Presse. 04/07/12)