Hamas cracks down – terror group tortures and kills ‘collaborators,’ including Gazan protest leaders

After the targeted killings of several of its political leaders and mid-level commanders by Israel, as well as unprecedented popular protests against its rule, Hamas has begun a broad crackdown on suspected dissidents, spies, and protest leaders, according to several reports. 

A report in Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat claims the terror group has "revolutionary courts” where it has prosecuted Gaza residents accused of collaborating with Israel. The report coincided with the publication of a statement in the Hamas-affiliated Gaza Now Telegram channel, which claimed that six collaborators were killed over the weekend. 

“Six collaborators with the Zionist occupation have been executed in the Gaza Strip by the decision of the Revolutionary Court,” the announcement late Friday night said. 

A source told Asharq Al-Awsat that Hamas was affected by the assassinations “on the political, military and governmental levels, and since the escalation of the attacks, they have taken stricter security measures.” 

While Hamas took advantage of the hostage-ceasefire deal to recruit new members and begin to re-exert influence on areas which had been taken by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the report indicated that the IDF also used the ceasefire to increase intelligence regarding particular individuals in the terror organization. 

Sources told the Saudi newspaper that "Israel has increased its intelligence efforts during the ceasefire, operating drones for espionage purposes and other means to track down wanted individuals, eavesdropping on certain areas to identify them and the voices emanating from them, and trying to compare them with recordings from previous years.” 

The sources also claimed that the hostage handover ceremonies provided valuable intelligence about Hamas’ structure, and regarding field commanders from Hamas and other Palestinian factions. 

Besides identifying and executing possible spies within its ranks, the terror organization also clamped down on rising protests against its rule in the Gaza Strip. After three consecutive days of protests, the demonstrations ceased on Friday, with no protests reported in any part of the Strip. 

Reports from Palestinians in Gaza say the terror group has begun to call participants in the protests and threaten them. 

One protester told Channel 12, “Hamas began threatening participants in demonstrations in the Gaza Strip and held conversations in which it threatened that anyone who went out to demonstrate would be harmed. They [Hamas] came to me through other people and threatened me as well. They said they were 'waiting for me' and would harm me. I don't leave the house and I understand that I have to be careful so as not to get hurt. I am afraid of these thugs.” 

At the same time, it was reported that one of the organizers of the protests, Odai Nasser al-Rabay, a 22-year-old protest member, was kidnapped by Hamas, brutally beaten and tortured, and finally executed before the terror group dropped his body in front of his family’s house. 

Odai Nasser Al Rabay, a 22-year-old Gazan, was kidnapped and killed under torture by Hamas's terrorists today. May his memory be blessed. pic.twitter.com/T0oTZVT5gc

— Hamza (@HowidyHamza) March 29, 2025

Hamza al-Masri, a refugee from Gaza and anti-Hamas activist, posted a video to social media giving a last will and testament, in case Hamas killed him. 

Another activist, Omar Abd Rabbo, posted a message to social media, stating, “I would like to clarify that I received a phone call from an unknown source asking me not to participate in the popular movement in Gaza or support it on social media.” 

“I did not publish the matter yesterday, but to clarify the situation and avoid any misunderstanding, if I violate these instructions, I will bear full responsibility,” he continued. 

Another activist, Mahmoud al-Shafi’i, told Channel 12 that Hamas security called him and told him to report for questioning. After he declined to appear, they threatened him, "Don't come, we know how to get you.” 

Gaza native, and pro-peace activist, Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, wrote that the protests stopped after Hamas began threatening participants and sending masked members to disrupt the protests. 

Reports from multiple sources on the ground in Gaza have confirmed that the anti-Hamas protests have largely stopped after the terrorist organization made widespread threats, beat & tortured people, killed Oday Alrabee today & placed its masked thug & gunmen around demonstrators. pic.twitter.com/U1qDqUcSfL

— Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib (@afalkhatib) March 29, 2025

“Hamas's terror brigades & intelligence services are rounding up and threatening all who promoted the anti-Hamas protests in Gaza, including those who only did so through Facebook posts,” Alkhatib wrote to 𝕏.