After the Israeli war stops, who will clash with Hamas in Gaza? | News of the interpreters

Israeli air strikes on Gaza may have stopped, and a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas is still ongoing, but behind the headlines, tensions are brewing in Gaza between Hamas and militant groups.

On Sunday, clashes broke out between an armed clan and Hamas security forces, killing at least 27 people, including eight Hamas members, according to the Gaza Interior Ministry.

Caught in the crossfire was 28-year-old Palestinian journalist Saleh al-Jaafrawi, who was covering the clashes in the Sabra neighborhood in Gaza City between what security sources told Al Jazeera Arabic were an “armed militia” and Hamas.

Is this the only militia in Gaza? Who are these armed gangs? What are their goals? Are they really affiliated with Israel?

Here’s everything you need to know:

Who killed Hamas on Sunday?

Media reports and sources stated that the clan fighting Hamas in Gaza City is the Dughmush clan.

The extended family includes members from various factions across the political spectrum in Gaza.

Mumtaz Dughmush was involved in the Army of Islam group’s capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2008. Other tribal members belonged to Hamas or groups affiliated with the Palestinian Authority.

Some reports claimed that Al-Dughmush, who fought Hamas on Sunday, was affiliated with Israel, but other sources from Gaza denied his affiliation with Israel.

What happened?

The Siham Unit, an armed unit affiliated with the Ministry of Interior, said that the clashes began on Saturday when “an outlaw gang killed resistance fighters from the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, near the Jordanian field hospital in Gaza City.”

Eyewitnesses told the BBC that 300 Hamas fighters stormed a residential building in which Dughmush gunmen were holed up, and a Palestinian security source told Reuters news agency that Hamas launched a campaign in Gaza City that resulted in the killing of 32 “gang” members.

According to the Interior Ministry, eight Hamas members and 19 clan members were killed. Al-Jaafrawi was also killed.

There was a state of sadness over the killing of Al-Jaafrawi, as a video clip of him greeting his friend and colleague Anas Al-Sharif spread on social media.

Al-Sharif, an Al Jazeera correspondent, was killed by Israel on August 10. Al-Jaafrawi, like Al-Sharif, was reportedly threatened several times by the Israelis over his reporting.

Is the Dughmush tribe really supported by Israel?

This is still not clear.

There is conflicting information. Some reports from inside Gaza stated that the clan has an Israeli affiliation, but the group’s leaders denied this.

In early October, Nizar Dughmosh, the head of the tribe in Gaza City, told the Los Angeles Times that the Israeli military had contacted him to manage the so-called humanitarian zone in Gaza City.

He told the newspaper that he refused, and added that the Israeli army bombed the neighborhood where he lived in Gaza City, and systematically stormed and destroyed homes.

There is hostility between the Daghmush and Hamas tribes, which in the past developed into armed clashes.

But Israel has a history of funding and supporting groups in an attempt to stir up internal tensions.

Israel supports militias in Gaza, right?

Yes.

Israel widely Recognized To be behind the Popular Forces, a militia led by Yasser Abu Shabab from the Tarabin Bedouin tribe in Gaza.

But the Tarabin tribe denounced Abu Shabab.

While Israel claimed that Hamas was stealing aid from the residents of Gaza, it turned out that the Popular Forces were the ones stealing the aid Looting aid To be resold to the hungry people of Gaza. Hamas has reportedly clashed with the Popular Forces on a few occasions since September 2024, accusing them of collaborating with Israel.

Israel has also reportedly supported a group calling itself the “Strike Force Against Terrorism,” led by Hossam Al-Astal, a member of the Majida clan. The Al-Astal group also clashed with Hamas in early October before the ceasefire was announced, according to Israeli media.

Al-Astal is a former officer in the Palestinian Authority security forces, but was accused by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas of collaborating with Israel in the 1990s. Israeli media reports stated that Al-Astal was a member of the Abu Shabab militia and continues to coordinate with the commander of the Popular Forces.

He reportedly controls a village called Qaizan al-Najjar in the Khan Yunis governorate in the southern Gaza Strip.

The continued activity of these groups against Hamas and against civilians has contributed to a sense of unrest, several people in Gaza told Al Jazeera.

What happens now?

The fighting has stopped, but more clashes could still erupt in a community devastated by Israel’s genocidal war two years ago.

The security vacuum may lead to confrontations between groups seeking to gain influence or territory.

For its part, Hamas denied deploying its fighters in the streets.

Meanwhile, Palestinians are returning to what remains of their homes in northern Gaza, and much-needed humanitarian aid is beginning to enter the Gaza Strip.

Israel has killed at least 67,806 people in Gaza since the war began in October 2023.