A Hamas spokesman on Monday denied accusations by an international rights group that its movement has killed tens of political rivals and collaborators with Israel in the Gaza Strip.

In a new report issued Monday, the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Hamas has committed extra judicial killings against at least 32 Palestinians, mostly suspected collaborators, during and after the 22-day Israeli offensive in the Hamas-controlled territory which started on December 27, 2008.

"The report is hasty, unfair and lacks balance and transparency," said Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza. The HRW did not deal with the "real reason behind the chaos, the (Israeli) occupation's bombing of the security stations and the prison where many criminal inmates were in."

Barhoum confirmed that he met a researcher from the organization "but he, unfortunately, wrote only few words of what I said, unlike what the researcher did with those who might have faced some inconveniences."

The HRW said that Hamas has completed investigations into two cases and there is still an open inquiry into two additional cases, but the report emphasizes the Islamic movement failed to carry out real investigation and that looking into four cases out of at least 32 was insufficient.

The report also said that 18 of the victims were killed after Israel ended its war in Gaza in January. "Unlawful arrests, torture and killings in detention" refute Hamas' claims to uphold the law in the Gaza Strip.