Summary executions as Hamas hunts clans threatening its rule
Benjamin Netanyahu threatens ‘all hell will break loose’ if Hamas doesn’t hand over its weapons as video emerges of Hamas militants executing men it claims are ‘collaborators.’
Donald Trump has vowed to disarm Hamas after the militant group was seen executing suspected collaborators in Gaza as it attempted to regain control following the partial withdrawal of Israeli troops.
Only hours after the US President proclaimed his peace plan as “the end of the era of terror and death” in the Middle East, a video emerged showing a firing squad of masked gunmen shooting dead at least seven captives who were bound and kneeling. Spectators could be heard cheering “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest”) and referred to those killed as collaborators.
Mr Trump said: “They (Hamas) did take out a couple of gangs that were very, very bad … and that didn’t bother me much. To be honest with you that’s OK.”
But he added: “If they don’t disarm we will disarm them … and it’ll happen quickly and perhaps violently … they know I’m not playing games.”
Mr Trump’s 20-point plan envisages that Hamas will disarm and its leaders will leave Gaza to allow a “board of peace”, headed by the US president, to oversee governance. An international stabilisation force (ISF) will also be drafted to provide security in the territory, until a reformed Palestinian Authority can take over.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed Mr Trump’s threat in an interview with CBS News, saying if the militants didn’t give up their weapons “all hell” would break loose.
“We agreed to give peace a chance,” Mr Netanyahu said.
“We agreed, let’s get the first part done, and now let’s give a chance to do the second part,” he added, saying he hoped Hamas would hand over its arms peacefully but if not “all hell breaks loose.”
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said a 15-member Palestinian technocratic committee had been selected to administer post-war Gaza and that all names had been vetted by Israel and approved by all Palestinian factions, including Hamas. He said Hamas members accepted the plan and would “have no role in the transitional period”.
Further details, however, remained vague. Analysts expressed concern at how quickly Hamas had moved to fill the vacuum left by withdrawing Israeli forces and how it had been able to purge rival groups and clans, some of which were armed and backed by Israel.
“There is chaos now, because in the part of Gaza where Israel has pulled back there is no government,” said Elliott Abrams, senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
“I worry now about the lack of law and order. I’m afraid it isn’t anarchy, it’s Hamas reasserting control.” He added that he was dubious about the time it would take for the ISF to be deployed.
Even as negotiators seek to restore a semblance of order before they can implement the difficult next stages of Mr Trump’s peace plan, Hamas has stated it wants to “cleanse” the strip of “collaborators”.
These include alleged drug trafficker, Yasser Abu Shabab, whose militia, the Popular Forces, controls territory around Gaza’s strategic southeastern corner, which is crucial for aid flows.
At the height of his military campaign in Gaza, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that Israel was sending weapons to Shabab’s Popular Forces in the hope they would take up the fight against Hamas. There were no downsides, he said, if it saved Israeli lives in the long run. “What’s bad about it? It’s only good.”
As Hamas seeks to maintain control the violence is intensifying. On Monday gunmen of Hamas’s military wing were seen in the streets. Then video emerged on social media appearing to show masked gunmen, some of them wearing green headbands like those worn by Hamas, killing at least seven men after forcing them to kneel. Spectators cheered “Allahu Akbar” and referred to those killed as “collaborators”. Shabab said none of his men were harmed.
Jamal Nazzal, spokesman for the Fatah political party in the West Bank, told the Centre for Peace Communications: “These scenes and executions are a hallmark of Hamas. This is how Hamas persecutes civilians – it executes them in broad daylight. This continues to this very moment.”
Shabab’s men are said to have been involved in transporting aid into the territory, allegedly demanding payments of up to $US4000 for its passage. Hamas accuses them of collaborating with Israel and presiding over lawlessness and looting. Hamas has been fighting with the clans since the ceasefire was put in place. In the absence of an Arab-led stabilisation force to provide security – another step in Mr Trump’s plan – fears are growing of an internal conflict and more suffering for Palestinians.
Hamas security forces have been hunting clan members for two days, recalling up to 7,000 fighters for the job.
On Sunday night there were reports they had their man, surrounding Shabab and arresting him. However, in messages to The Times, Shabab offered evidence he was alive. He posed with his fighters with a printed page carrying Monday’s date. “All the news circulated in the media during the past two days is false,” he said, adding that the rumours were circulated by Hamas and its supporters “because they could not reach us”.
He denied any suggestion his men had been involved in looting aid lorries. “Hamas either accuses their opposers of being traitors working with Israel or being criminals. I am neither of these.”
Instead, he said, another clan, the Doghmush family, also based in the south, had been targeted by Hamas, and at least 27 had been killed. Video shared on Telegram showed Hamas fighters beating men in the streets and firing warning shots. The Doghmush is a large clan with members in factions across the political spectrum. Witnesses told the BBC that 300 Hamas members stormed the compound in which armed members were based. Among those killed was Salah Aljafarawi, a Palestinian journalist.
Though Shabab denies directly working with Israel, his area of control in southeastern Gaza is still occupied by the Israel Defence Forces. He claimed his funding and arms came from “notable members” of his tribe, the Tarabin, which extends from Gaza to Egypt and Jordan. Even if Shabab still enjoys Israel’s protection, it may not last. Withdrawing Israeli forces after Hamas has laid down its weapons is the crucial next step of Trump’s plan.
Another clan has entered the fray. Israel is claimed to have backed a man called Hossam al-Astal. He leads al-Majida, a clan also known as the “Counter-Terrorism Strike Force”, which has clashed with Hamas. The area he claims to have responsibility for, Qizan al-Najjar, is also within the IDF’s present zone of control.
Al-Astal told The Times that Hamas would fail in taking revenge against his group. A former member of the Palestinian Authority’s security agency now based in Khan Yunis, he was accused in the 1990s of collaborating with Israel. “Hamas does not truly have much power,” he said. “In truth, it’s very weak. We are capable of responding to any attack that they might wage.”
Al-Astal claimed to have close ties with various western countries, including the United States, as well as Israel. “All the groups that have liberated parts of territory from the Hamas occupation of Gaza need to come together and form one government,” he said. “Hamas has brought enormous tragedy to Gaza over the past 18 years. To approach what we hope is the end of that tragedy makes us feel optimistic. We would like to ask Trump to continue, and go after the Hamas leadership outside of Gaza. They are the ones who fund this war machine. They are the ones who lead it. They need to be put on trial for war crimes.”
The Times
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