At least 27 people have been killed in clashes between two armed groups in Gaza days after Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire deal.
Hamas, the dominant Palestinian group in the besieged territory, fought with the Dughmush clan in the Sabra neighbourhood over the weekend in one of the most violent internal confrontations in many days.
A 28-year-old journalist, who had gained prominence for his videos covering the war, was shot and killed while covering the fighting, Al Jazeera reported. Saleh Aljafarawi’s body with a “press” flak jacket on was recovered from the back of a truck.
A source in Gaza’s internal ministry told the broadcaster that the clashes in Gaza City involved “an armed militia affiliated with the occupation”, referring to Israel.
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The source claimed that security forces surrounded members of the militia and engaged in heavy fighting, which resulted in the deaths of eight Hamas fighters.
At least 19 members of the Dughmush clan were also killed in the clash. “A number of collaborators and informants were apprehended and arrested in Gaza City after it was proven that they were involved in spying for the enemy,” the Palestinian Home Front, a Telegram channel affiliated with Hamas, said.
It added that those arrested were “participating in the assassination of several resistance members”.
Residents described scenes of panic as heavy gunfire forced the displaced Palestinians to flee their homes. “This time people weren’t fleeing Israeli attacks,” one resident told BBC News. "They were running from their own people."
The interior ministry said the clashes erupted as the security forces were working to restore order, warning that “any armed activity carried out outside the framework of the resistance” would be met with a firm response.
The report said the Hamas-run interior ministry had accused a local militia of attacking its security forces, while members of the Dughmush clan claimed that Hamas had used the ceasefire as a pretext to target them over alleged collaboration with Israel.
“Children are screaming and dying, they are burning our houses,” a relative of the clan told Israeli media outlet Ynet.
“We are trapped. I don’t know how they entered with all kinds of weapons. Where were they when the Jews were here? They arrested all the youths, lined them up against walls, pointed weapons at their heads. There is a massacre here,” another member said.
The Dughmush family, one of Gaza’s most powerful clans, has repeatedly clashed with Hamas over the years.
Hamas claimed that Dughmush gunmen had killed two of its fighters and wounded five others, triggering a retaliation.
But the Dughmush family told local media that Hamas fighters barged into a building where they had taken shelter after their homes in Sabra, in western Gaza, were destroyed by the Israeli military. The building had once served as the Jordanian Hospital.
Hamas executed a senior Doghmush member in northern Gaza following reports that Israeli authorities had approached the clan to coordinate aid distribution in the area, according to the US State Department.
Hamas has reportedly redeployed around 7,000 security personnel to reassert control in areas vacated by Israeli troops.
Meanwhile, the US-brokered ceasefire appeared to hold for the fourth day with the release of the first batch of the remaining living hostages from Gaza.
The Israeli military confirmed on Monday that it had taken custody of seven living hostages freed by Hamas.
The hostages will be transferred to a military base to be reunited with their families.
Hamas said earlier it would release 20 living hostages held in Gaza in exchange for over 1,900 Palestinian prisoners.
President Trump has arrived in Tel Aviv to celebrate the ceasefire deal after declaring that “the war is over”.
“I think people are tired of it,” he told reporters travelling with him aboard Air Force One.
The war started when a Hamas attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023 left some 1,200 people dead and 250 taken hostage. In the ensuing Israeli war, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza health ministry.
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