Hamas battles militias for control of Gaza following Israel's withdrawal

One week into the ceasefire, a new kind of violence is plaguing the Gaza Strip.

Public executions, arson attacks and gun battles have raised the spectre of a slide into civil chaos as Hamas battles armed groups it accuses of collaborating with Israel.

Experts say Hamas is attempting to reassert its authority following Israel's withdrawal from parts of the Gaza Strip.

But members of three anti-Hamas militias, operating from areas still controlled by Israel, have told Sky News they have no intention of laying down their arms and plan to fight Hamas to the end.

The fighting has drawn the ire of US President Donald Trump, who posted on his Truth Social platform on Thursday: "If Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not the deal, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them."

Who are the Doghmosh clan?

On the night the ceasefire was agreed, Majed Doghmosh - not his real name - was sheltering in Gaza City's abandoned Jordanian Hospital alongside his parents and six-year-old sister.

Like many residents of the surrounding Al Sabra neighbourhood, Majed belongs to the Doghmosh clan - an influential extended family which has long had a tense relationship with Hamas.

Many members of the clan had fled to the hospital two weeks earlier, after the Israeli forces entered Al Sabra.

When the ceasefire was announced, Majed says, "people began to rejoice that the war was over and life would return to normal."

But as people were returning to their homes, a contingent from Gaza's Hamas-led security forces arrived at the hospital. They said they were searching for collaborators.

'They came with hundreds of people'

"We, as a family in general, have completely refused any cooperation with the occupation," says Nizar Doghmosh, the family's leader in Gaza.

"But the occupation managed to infiltrate one... weak, shallow-minded, foolish person."

While in the Jordanian Hospital, Nizar says, this person recruited seven or eight others into an anti-Hamas militia.

Instead of handing themselves in, these men opened fire on the security forces, killing Mohammed Aqel - the son of senior Hamas commander Imad Aqel.

"Suddenly, we started hearing that Hamas wants to kill everyone who calls himself a Doghmosh," Majed says.

"They came with hundreds of people, killing women, children and young people and burning down our homes."

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Majed fled, but left behind his parents and sister - who he says are still trapped and hiding in Al Sabra neighbourhood.

Palestinian journalist and social media influencer Saleh Al Ja'afari was killed on Sunday while reportedly covering the fighting in Al Sabra. It remains unclear who shot him.

Footage posted on Sunday shows a gun battle at a junction near the neighbourhood.

On Monday evening, footage emerged of a mass public execution at the same intersection.

"All they wanted were 6 or 7 people, and these people were killed," says Basel Doghmosh - not his real name - who also managed to escape the fighting. "Now they are killing everyone."

Speaking to Sky News in Gaza, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem described these incidents as "efforts to maintain order in Gaza, not acts of revenge".

"Hamas has not targeted any family," he said.

"The occupation has formed armed militias loyal to it, and these militias are accused of high treason - the most severe charge in Palestinian revolutionary law.

"All clans, social and family bodies have expressed support for this effort by the security forces of the government in Gaza.

"These chaotic incidents must be decisively contained. This is a national position."

At least four anti-Hamas militias

Hamas has made a show of force in recent days, with its fighters appearing on street patrols and at hostage handover ceremonies across the Gaza Strip.

Amjad Iraqi, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, says that Hamas's "vicious" response to the Doghmosh clan is partly intended to deter other armed groups from challenging its authority.

Sky News has confirmed that at least four anti-Hamas militias are currently active within the Gaza Strip, all of them based in areas still under Israeli control - where Hamas is unable to operate freely.

Who is Yasser Abu Shabab?

The most influential is a former looting gang led by Yasser Abu Shabab, which controls territory along Gaza's main route for transporting aid. The group claims that 1,500 people are living in their territory, including 500-700 fighters.

Abu Shabab's militia maintains loose ties to the other groups, whose control of territory is much less clear.

Members from three of the militias told Sky News they have no intention of laying down their arms, and intend to fight Hamas to the end.

Ashraf Al Mansi's militia

The leader of the fourth group, Ashraf Al Mansi, posted a statement to social media on Tuesday warning Hamas against approaching areas under their control.

Al Mansi's militia has established itself north of Gaza City.

Its headquarters are at an abandoned school more than 500 metres inside the Israeli zone of control.

Although the militia claims to control significant territory in northern Gaza, Sky News has not seen any evidence of their presence more than 200 metres from the school.

Where do the Halas militia operate?

Further south, to the east of Gaza City, gunfire could be heard on Tuesday as Hamas battled another militia, led by Rami Halas.

On Sunday, 12 October, Gaza's Hamas-run interior ministry offered amnesty to any militia members not involved in killings, so long as they turned themselves in by 19 October. "Consider this a final warning," the statement said.

Speaking to Sky News from his base in the Israeli-controlled zone, a member of the Halas militia says that his group has no plans to surrender.

"Hamas destroyed the Gaza Strip - it has become nothing but a pile of ashes and stones," says Basel.

"We are not afraid of death as long as it is for the sake of liberating the Gaza Strip from their ignorance, backwardness, and destruction."

Fighting could imperil planned aid surge

The growing violence comes as Palestinians continue to wait for a surge in aid promised under the ceasefire agreement.

Gaza City is currently experiencing famine, with the rest of the territory suffering from severe food shortages after months of Israeli restrictions on aid deliveries.

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Sam Rose, Gaza director of the UN refugee agency UNRWA, says that mounting an effective aid operation will require Israel to allow aid in at scale and to give aid groups the freedom to move across the Gaza Strip.

"But we also need to know that our trucks and staff are not at risk from fighting or looting by armed elements," he adds.

Among those leading the looting of aid trucks in the past was Yasser Abu Shabab, whose group has transformed itself into the most influential of the four anti-Hamas militias identified by Sky News.

Last week, Sky News revealed that Israel is providing extensive support to the group, allowing them to smuggle cash, guns and cars into Gaza.

We also found that Abu Shabab's militia has been receiving food aid from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US- and Israeli-backed aid group.

Footage from the camp, verified by Sky News, shows large stocks of fresh produce.

In other videos, militia members can be seen showing off stacks of cash and smuggled valuables.

Israel accused of 'divide and conquer' strategy

The GHF told Sky News that "every Gazan deserves to be fed with dignity - including those in areas controlled by [Abu Shabab]". The IDF declined to comment on Sky's findings.

Crisis Group's Amjad Iraqi says that, by supporting groups such as Abu Shabab's, Israel has been engaging in a strategy of "divide and conquer".

"What's happening right now is really a direct consequence of an Israeli policy throughout much of the war, but especially since it broke the ceasefire in March, to essentially render Gaza ungovernable."

"A power vacuum... is to Israel's advantage because it weakens Hamas and it weakens Gazan society writ large," he says.

Additional reporting by Celine Alkhaldi, Sophia Massam and Freya Gibson.

The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

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