JERUSALEM, October 5, 2013 (WAFA) - The European Union missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah Friday condemn Hamas authorities’ execution of a Gaza resident last week, according to an EU missions' statement.

The statement said the EU is opposed to capital punishment “under all circumstances.”

It said that it considers capital punishment to be “cruel and inhuman, and that it fails to provide deterrence to criminal behavior, and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity.”

It called on the authorities in Gaza to “refrain from carrying out any executions of prisoners and comply with the moratorium on executions put in place by the Palestinian Authority, pending abolition of the death penalty in line with the global trend.”

Hamas executed on Wednesday Hani Abu Illyan after a Gaza court convicted him of premeditated murder of a 16-year-old boy after molesting him in 2000 and a man he had borrowed money from in 2009.

M.S.