Since the moment the Gaza ceasefire was signed and came into effect earlier this month, Hamas through its military wing Izzeddin Al-Qassam Brigades and the internal security forces under the Ministry of Interior in the Gaza Strip has launched a campaign targeting its critics and political opponents.
This includes armed groups that received military support and funding from the Israeli army, according to Hamas. Analysts and observers, however, argue that Hamas is exploiting the situation to suppress its political rivals, in particular Fatah, which has openly criticised the Hamas practices.
Political analyst Najeeb Faraj told Al-Ahram Weekly that the Palestinian scene following these clashes and subsequent executions “does not reflect a healthy situation.” He described the ongoing events as a serious challenge for Hamas after the ceasefire, suggesting that the movement should address collaborators with Israel through alternative methods.
He added that Fatah should distance itself from the events to avoid having its supporters associated with Hamas’ pursuit of collaborators.
Reports of widespread violence have circulated on social media platforms, including a particularly shocking video showing a group of masked fighters, some wearing green headbands with the Hamas emblem, executing eight blindfolded individuals in a Gaza City square watched by large crowds.
The footage appears to demonstrate the brutality Hamas uses to assert itself as a dominant security force in Gaza.
According to local sources in Gaza, Hamas has been moving to eliminate local militias opposing it, triggering clashes over recent days. The latest involved the Daghmash clan, resulting in the killing of journalist Saleh Al-Jaafarawi and injuries to others.
Private sources indicated that “the confrontation with the Daghmash clan could last a week or more but will ultimately be resolved in favour of Al-Qassam,” led operationally by Izzeddin Al-Haddad, commander of the military wing.
Other groups are reportedly being brought to reconciliation with Hamas, including the Majayda clan, which is reportedly moving towards a truce.
The Mansy clan has fled to Israeli army positions in Beit Lahia, while Yasser Abu Shabab’s militia has done the same, as has the Al-Astal clan in Khan Yunis, which has begun dismantling itself under Israeli protection.
Al-Astal had previously been detained by Hamas for involvement in the assassination of a Hamas engineer in Malaysia in 2018, allegedly by the Israeli intelligence service Mossad. He was later lured back, arrested, and escaped at the outbreak of the recent war.
The Hamas security force Al-Radd announced in a statement that it had carried out a “precise operation in central Gaza City, neutralising a number of wanted individuals and lawbreakers,” though it provided no evidence for this.
Al-Radd said it had taken control of sites in Gaza, conducted sweeps, and arrested individuals “involved in shooting, killing displaced persons, and assaulting civilians.”
On Monday, it said it was conducting “wide-scale security operations” resulting in the detention of numerous collaborators and lawbreakers, including those accused of shooting at security forces and recruiting collaborators during the war in southern Gaza.
In parallel, the Hamas Interior Ministry reportedly opened a “centre for repentance and pardon,” reviewing each individual case related to wartime events.
CONDEMNATIONS: Both Fatah and the Palestinian Presidency condemned the executions, which have been widely documented by citizen cameras and phones.
The presidency issued a statement strongly denouncing Hamas’ recent field executions of dozens of Gaza residents, carried out outside the law and without fair trials.
The statement described these acts as heinous crimes, an egregious violation of human rights, and a direct challenge to the rule of law. It accused Hamas of enforcing its authority through force and terror, at a time when the people of Gaza continue to suffer from the impact of war, destruction, and blockade.
The presidency stressed that the law is the sole reference point and that such practices undermine Palestinian unity and social cohesion, contradict national and moral values, and obstruct ongoing efforts to unify Palestinian state institutions under one authority, one law, and one legitimate armed force.
It called for an immediate halt to the violations, the protection of civilians, and the accountability for the perpetrators within the framework of Palestinian law and judiciary.
Hamas should be held fully responsible for these crimes, which harm the long-term interests of the Palestinian people, entrench its rule over Gaza, hinder reconstruction, exacerbate division, and obstruct the establishment of a free and independent Palestinian state, the presidency said.
Fatah, for its part, also condemned the field executions, describing them as illegal acts targeting its opponents and critics. In a statement to the Weekly, Fatah accused Hamas of executing former prisoners and activists, citing the killing of freed prisoner and activist Hisham Al-Saftawi after a raid on his home in Nuseirat in central Gaza.
Fatah described the ongoing killings, intimidation, raids, and attacks on civilians as a continuation of a two-year-long campaign of extermination, complementing Israel’s project to fragment Palestinian unity and displace its people.
It said that Hamas’ actions were functionally an extension of Israeli plans to destabilise Palestinian society and erode national cohesion. Since seizing Gaza in its 2007 coup, Hamas has consistently employed force, violence, and intimidation to subdue residents and silence all dissenting voices, it said.
The statement concluded by urging the Hamas leadership to assume national and ethical responsibility, publicly denounce these crimes, cease regional entanglements, and prioritise Palestinian interests.
FAMILIES REACT: In response, several clans targeted by Hamas, including the Daghmash, issued statements expressing “shock at the painful internal campaign targeting our innocent children, which include killings, intimidation, torture, and the burning of homes, without justification and under flimsy pretexts that bear no relation to reality.”
The Daghmash clan added that it had lost approximately 600 members during the conflict, and that the Israeli army had launched a brutal campaign against it after its members “categorically refused all attempts by the occupation to recruit or co-opt them to work on its behalf.”
It described the current events as “a heinous crime committed against a family known for its resilience, determination, and refusal of all forms of collaboration or betrayal.”
The identities of the fighters or detainees have not yet been independently confirmed. However, the video emerged days after reports of clashes between Hamas fighters and the Daghmash clan, a prominent family in the Sabra neighbourhood.
The Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights, an independent Palestinian NGO unaffiliated with any political faction, described the incidents as the “extrajudicial executions of civilians” and called for a formal investigation and prosecution of those responsible.
It said that it had received reports of armed confrontations between gunmen and members of a family in the Sabra and Tal Al-Hawa areas of Gaza City following the enforcement of the ceasefire on Friday.
Based on gathered information, the attackers claimed they were attempting to detain a group of suspects. The clashes reportedly resulted in casualties among both family members and the attacking force. Following the detention of several family members, a widely circulated video emerged showing the execution of several civilians on social media platforms.
Al-Mezan noted that no official statement had been issued by the local authorities regarding the incident.
Faraj said that Hamas and its government in Gaza are obliged to confront groups that openly collaborated with the Israeli occupation, which itself has admitted to cooperating with certain Palestinian factions.
Israel, he noted, seeks to exploit any internal Palestinian incidents in a strategy seen repeatedly in the history of the Palestinian struggle, including in the establishment of “village networks” in the late 1970s, because undermining Palestinian society from within serves Israeli interests.
Faraj concluded by warning that the ongoing division between Fatah and Hamas poses a grave danger to the Palestinian cause. Even if one movement or its elements make errors against the other, he urged that differences be set aside, as the upcoming phases of the Trump plan require national consensus and broader national unity.
Without such cohesion, he warned, the plan’s implementation will be distorted, providing Israel with opportunities to continue targeting, killing, and attacking Palestinians across the territory.
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