Published in the Jerusalem Post, 20 October 2025
The past few weeks have seen the emergence within Gaza of armed factions
challenging Hamas. Simmering for some time, this intra-Palestinian
conflict came to the boil after the ceasefire on 10 October. Hamas is now
facing open defiance from not just one or two,
but multiple armed groups emboldened by the power vacuum and security
chaos within Gaza.
Hamas
propaganda seeks to downplay talk of the growing Palestinian
opposition, and prefers to report operations directed against individuals
accused of collaborating with Israel.
On October 12 the Palestinian Home
Front, a Telegram news distribution channel affiliated with Hamas,
announced: “The security services and the resistance are conducting a
wide-scale field campaign across all areas of the Gaza Strip, from north to
south, to locate and arrest collaborators and informants.” A number were
apprehended in Gaza city, it said: “after they were proved to be involved in
spying for the enemy [and] participating in the assassination of several
resistance members.”.jpg)
The statement made no mention of what happened to them. However, multiple independent accounts confirm that shortly afterward, in full view of the public, they were blindfolded, made to kneel on the sidewalk, and shot dead. More video footage circulated in October shows Hamas's armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, executing individuals by shooting them in the head in the streets of Gaza City. These individuals undergo no judicial procedure or legal process. They are simply accused and then assassinated in public with the aim of instilling the greatest possible fear in any who might be tempted to oppose Hamas's rule.
These field executions
of Palestinians accused of treason and collaboration with
Israel are part of a wider campaign by Hamas’s so-called “security
forces”. Not only are they making a determined effort to restore their
authority by regaining control of that part of Gaza from which Israeli
forces have withdrawn. They are sending a message to the
powerful Palestinian gangs and clans that are openly
challenging Hamas. If it is to retain any presence in Gaza, Hamas
must try to counter the upsurge of attacks aimed at undermining
its rule.
Early in October Hamas conducted a
large raid in Khan Yunis on the al-Mujaida clan which had previously been
involved in assassinating Hamas operatives, and was accused by Hamas of
collaboration with Israel. Dozens of Hamas gunmen stormed a clan stronghold,
resulting in deaths on both sides.
On October 12, violent
confrontations erupted between Hamas security forces and the Doghmush clan, a
powerful local family with members connected to different political factions.
Some 300 Hamas fighters were reported to have stormed a residential area where
the clan gunmen had taken refuge. The clashes killed at least 27 people,
including eight Hamas members and 19 clan members.
The Doghmush and al-Mujaida clans
are major players in Gaza's internal power struggles. Their distinct leadership
structures and political-militant affiliations have shaped recent armed
conflict.
Leadership of the Doghmush clan is
centered around Mumtaz Doghmush, who has led the Army of Islam, a militia
linked to Al-Qaeda. Doghmush family members have in the past been active
in Fatah, Hamas, and other militant circles. Despite past collaboration
with Hamas on high-profile operations – notably the kidnapping and subsequent
prisoner exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit – relations have soured due
to competition over smuggling networks, local authority, and postwar power.
The al-Mujaida clan is led by
several prominent family elders in Khan Yunis, holding sway through extensive
family networks. Affiliated primarily with the Fatah movement, the
al-Mujaida clan occasionally supports other Palestinian groups opposed to
Hamas, especially in southern Gaza. They have resisted Hamas-imposed security
measures and are accused by Hamas of collaborating with Israeli and Egyptian
officials, particularly when it concerns smuggling or resource distribution.
These two clans continue to be the
main flashpoints of intra-Palestinian factional rivalry, blending local
leadership traditions and criminal syndicate models with political-militant
operations. But they are far from the only centers of clan-based anti-Hamas
activity. Numerous smaller armed groups and coalition factions have also
appeared, usually linked to local clans or neighborhoods in Gaza. As of the end
of September 2025, over a dozen new anti-Hamas armed groups had emerged,
reflecting a widespread societal breakdown and the virtual collapse of Hamas's
monopoly on territorial control and security.
To name but a few, there is the
Rafah-based Bedouin clan Abu Shabab. Its head, Yasser Abu Shabab,
currently recognized as a leading anti-Hamas clan leader, commands a personal
militia of about 400 fighters. Hamas accuses Abu Shabab of collaborating with
Israel – a charge he denies.
Then there is the Hellis clan, led
by Rami Hellis. Operating in the Shejaia neighborhood of Gaza City, it
has formed a coalition with other local families specifically aimed at
resisting Hamas's attempts to reassert control.
The Fatah-affiliated Khalas clan,
based in eastern Gaza City and led by Ahmed Khalas, has received Israeli
protection and military aid. It is notable for having openly resisted
Hamas from the moment it took control of Gaza in 2007. Khalas serves on
the Fatah Central Committee, and through him anti-Hamas clan activity as a
whole is plugged into the Palestinian Authority and its structures. In
fact Khalas serves as the representative of PA President Mahmoud Abbas in Gaza.
Centered in Khan Yunis, the Khanidak clan, led by Yasser Khanidak, has also benefited from Israeli support and weaponry. Although not as large as the Doghmush, Khanidak clan fighters have actively opposed Hamas forces during recent battles in southern Gaza.
Other militant clans who have
opposed, or are currently opposing Hamas, include the Barbakh clan based in
Khan Yunis and Rafah, the Abu Ziyad clan located in Zawaida near Deir al-Balah,
and the Abu Werda clan based near the Port of Gaza, which frequently leads
smaller, neighborhood-based defense groups that join larger clan battles as
needed.
It is clear that the Hamas regime
now faces widespread opposition from Palestinian leaders at the grass
roots. The organization is understandably being held accountable not only
for the decision to mount its barbarous assault on Israel
on October 7 2023, but crucially for underestimating the force, extent and
persistence of the Israeli reprisal that followed, and the consequential
devastating result for Gaza and its people.
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