Fears of Hamas plan to purge Gaza of ‘collaborators’ after ceasefire
Summary executions and sabre-rattling by the militant group are intended to show it is still in control – and Israeli-backed militias are squarely in its sights.
Fears of post-ceasefire bloodletting in Gaza rose after Hamas recalled 7000 members of its internal security forces to “cleanse Gaza of outlaws and collaborators” including militiamen armed by Israel during the conflict.
Armed Hamas units, clad in both civilian clothes and police uniforms, fanned out over territory vacated by retreating Israeli forces after a bloody confrontation with members of the powerful Dughmush clan in Gaza City.
The bodies of two elite Hamas fighters, including the son of Hamas’s head of military intelligence, were left in the streets after they were executed, prompting the group to launch an armed raid on the clan’s stronghold in the Sabra neighbourhood. There were differing reports as to the clashes that broke out, with claims that several clan members were killed or kidnapped.
Elsewhere, footage posted to Telegram groups in Gaza showed Hamas fighters beating several men in the street and firing shots to scare off crowds, before warnings that, despite the ceasefire, the militants were still in control.
The scenes are likely to sharpen criticism from those to the right in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, who have expressed anger at Israel being forced into a ceasefire before Hamas is wholly dismantled.
During the next phase of negotiations, talks will be held on how Hamas is to be disarmed and demobilised, most likely by an Arab stabilisation force that is envisaged as taking over security in Gaza. Israel has demanded that Gaza be permanently demilitarised.
Israel’s decision to arm anti-Hamas militias in Gaza as a counterweight to the militants has led to a fresh injection of weapons into a territory already awash with arms. Some groups were already armed with weapons looted from Hamas stores.
Hossam al-Astal, the leader of an anti-Hamas militia in Khan Yunis, said it was now operating under Israel Defense Forces protection from beyond the yellow withdrawal line that marks the border area where Israeli forces have retreated under the ceasefire agreement.
Mr Al-Astal told Kan news, Israel’s public broadcaster, that he had received assurances from Israeli commanders that his group would be protected from reprisals by Hamas.
“No one can enter our area, neither Hamas nor civilians; this is an area that is included in the terms of the deal,” Mr al-Astal said. “If Hamas infiltrates our region, we will fight it.”
He called Hamas’s shows of strength in the past two days an effort “to intimidate through psychological terror and to show that Hamas is present on the ground”.
“However, Hamas as a governing body is not actually present in the Gaza Strip,” he insisted.
Mr al-Astal also said the IDF had vowed not to withdraw from the square mile in Khan Yunis he had declared as “Hamas-free” despite forthcoming negotiations over where Israeli troops would be redeployed after the first phase of the ceasefire was over.
Under the agreement struck in Sharm el-Sheikh last week, Hamas has 72 hours to hand over the remaining hostages it holds while Israel must lift restrictions on the flow of aid before negotiations begin for a second phase of the deal. That phase will also discuss the deployment of an Arab stabilisation force which could still be weeks or months away.
Other Israeli-backed militias working in areas still controlled by the IDF include the Popular Forces group led by Yasser Abu Shabab in Rafah, on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt. Opening the Rafah crossing, currently still held by Israel, is one of the conditions outlined in phase one of the ceasefire deal.
On Sunday, the group released a statement on social media, claiming: “We are staying in our territory around Rafah and will continue to defend our lands. We have no intention of leaving the Gaza Strip.”
The arming of Gaza militias only came to light when Mr Netanyahu reveaked he had authorised the controversial move with his Defence Minister and the head of Shin Bet, the Israeli security agency, but without the knowledge of his own cabinet.
After the Israeli operation was revealed, Abu Shabab denied that his weapons and vehicles were supplied by Israel, claiming to be an independent anti-Hamas force. He boasted that his “army” would take on Hamas and win control of Gaza in what he called an inevitable civil war.
Hamas denounced his group as “traitors and agents” of Israel and warned that they would be hunted down. Late last month, rare footage circulated online showing the public execution of three men in Gaza City accused of collaboration. One of the executioners singled out Abu Shabab as the next target for execution.
Some of those who have joined the militias were recruiting online, including through Abu Shabab’s Facebook page, which offered 3000 shekels ($1400) shekels for new fighters and 5000 ($2323) for officers.
Israel’s militia sponsorships drew criticism even from former Netanyahu allies on the right of Israeli politics, including former defence minister Avigdor Lieberman, who called the fighters “criminals and offenders who identify with ISIS”.
Israel’s current Defence Minister, Israel Katz, said on Sunday that after all the hostages were brought home, the IDF would turn its attentions to demolishing the tunnel network the group has constructed under the strip.
“Israel’s great challenge after the phase of returning the hostages will be the destruction of all of Hamas’s terror tunnels in Gaza, directly by the IDF and through the international mechanism to be established under the leadership and supervision of the United States,” Mr Katz posted on X.
“This is the primary significance of implementing the agreed-upon principle of demilitarising Gaza and neutralising Hamas of its weapons. I have instructed the IDF to prepare for carrying out the mission”.
The Times
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