Hamas-Clan Clashes in Gaza City Leave 27 Dead
Gaza City – At least 27 peopel have been killed in fierce clashes between Hamas security forces and members of teh Dughmush family in Gaza City, marking one of the moast violent internal confrontations within the enclave sence the end of major Israeli operations.
Witnesses report that masked Hamas gunmen exchanged fire with clan fighters near the city’s Jordanian hospital. A senior official in the hamas-run interior ministry stated that security units surrounded and engaged in heavy fighting to detain the Dughmush fighters, describing the incident as “an armed assault by a militia” that resulted in the deaths of eight Hamas members.
Medical sources confirm that 19 members of the Dughmush clan and eight Hamas fighters have been killed since fighting began on Saturday.
Eyewitnesses describe scenes of panic in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of southern Gaza City, where a Hamas force of over 300 fighters attempted to storm a residential block occupied by Dughmush gunmen. Residents, many of whom have been displaced multiple times during recent conflict, fled their homes under heavy gunfire.
“This time people weren’t fleeing Israeli attacks,” one resident told reporters. “They were running from their own people.”
The Dughmush family, a prominent clan in Gaza, has a history of tense relations with Hamas, and previous clashes have occurred.
The Hamas-run interior ministry has stated its forces are working to restore order, warning that “any armed activity outside the framework of the resistance” will be met with a firm response. Both sides accuse the other of initiating the violence.
Hamas initially claimed dughmush gunmen killed two of its fighters and wounded five, prompting the operation against them. However, a source from the Dughmush family alleges that Hamas forces attempted to evict the family from a building near the former Jordanian Hospital – where they had sought refuge after their homes in the al-Sabra neighborhood were destroyed in recent israeli attacks – to establish a new base.
These clashes come as Hamas recalls approximately 7,000 security force members to reassert control over areas of Gaza recently vacated by Israeli troops, according to local sources. Reports indicate armed Hamas units are deploying across several districts, some in civilian clothes and others in the blue uniforms of the Gaza police, though the Hamas media office denies deploying “fighters in the streets.”
