Hamas executes Gaza clan chiefs suspected of ‘cooperation with Israel’

Other clans declare support for Hamas in public statement

Hamas executed the chief of the powerful Doghmush clan in Gaza City on Wednesday over allegations that he was in contact and cooperated with Israel, Arab media reported.

“Hamas militias executed the mukhtar [chief] of the Doghmush family in the Family Court building,” human rights activist Hassan al-Sharafi said, according to Ynet News.

Later on Thursday, a Hamas-affiliated news outlet confirmed that Hamas had executed the unnamed Doghmush leader, as well as the clan chief of the Kafarna family.

Hamas suspected both clans of cooperating with Israel to provide security for humanitarian aid convoys entering the Gaza Strip.

This week, a website affiliated with Hamas warned Palestinians against cooperating with Israel despite the ongoing deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

Many of the aid convoys entering the Strip have been taken over by Hamas, which uses the aid to supply its forces and then sells the surplus on the black market.

Following the assassination, several other large clans in the Gaza Strip released a statement pledging its continued support of Hamas.

Hamas welcomed the clans' statements, which it said “steadfastly refused to respond to the malicious plans of the Zionist occupation, which aim to create coordinating bodies without Palestinian national presence.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently presented his vision of a post-war Gaza, calling for “local officials” with no connections to terror groups to manage the Gaza Strip the “day after” the war in Gaza is over.

The Doghmush is one of the larger and most powerful clans in northern Gaza, where the distribution of aid has been especially challenging as most aid convoys enter Gaza from the southern border with Egypt and often do not reach the north.

The clan maintains a well-armed and trained militia in Gaza City, according to Ynet.

Many of its members have military experience after serving forces for the Palestinian Authority or Hamas and reportedly provide security for Hamas functionaries, businessmen and local politicians.

A member of another clan admitted that his family had been in communication with the IDF but expressed concerns about potential Hamas retribution if a ceasefire agreement were to be reached.

“Some of the families are worried that a ceasefire will give Hamas the opportunity to exact vengeance with them,” he told Ynet.