Hamas terrorists executed a leader in the powerful Doghmush clan in Gaza this week after claiming the group had been stealing humanitarian aid and may have been in contact with Israel.
Multiple reports in Arab media said the clan leader, who was not named, was killed alongside at least two others earlier this week in a family compound.
The Doghmush clan operates in northern Gaza and was involved in the kidnapping of BBC journalist Alan Johnson in 2007; the group is also alleged to engage in extortion, smuggling and arms dealing.
However, Hamas warned Palestinians earlier this week against cooperating with Israel to provide security for aid convoys – with an affiliated website telling Gazans that they would be treated as ‘collaborators’ with the Jewish state.
The Hamas al-Majd website said: ‘The occupation’s attempt to communicate with the leaders and clans of some families to operate within the Gaza Strip is considered direct collaboration with the occupation and is a betrayal of the nation that we will not tolerate.’
Hamas terrorists are reported to have killed the leader of the Doghmush clan in northern Gaza after the family was alleged to have been in touch with Israel
A statement reportedly issued by the family, which could not be immediately verified, claimed Hamas fighters and bases were now ‘legitimate targets’ following the killings
People walk past destroyed buildings in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says 31,490 Palestinians have been killed since the war began
Israeli news website Ynet quoted Hassan al-Sharfi, a human rights activist in Gaza, as saying: ‘We the people of Gaza sometimes die because of Jews and sometimes because of Hamas.
‘Hamas militias executed the leader of the Doghmush family inside the “Family Court”.’
Doghmush is a large, armed clan that has clashed with Hamas in the past; it founded the Army of Islam jihadist outfit in 2006.
It appeared to confirm the execution in a statement disseminated on social media, warning that all members of Hamas were now ‘legitimate targets’ after the group’s attack on its compound.
It also said ten others had been killed alongside the leader, rather than the previously reported figure of two.
‘The cowardly Hamas militia assassinated the family’s mukhtar (chief) and ten of its sons under the cover of darkness,’ the statement, which could not be independently verified, read.
‘As of today, the Doghmush family considers the Hamas militias, its headquarters, and its members a legitimate target.’
The violence came after reports in an Israeli newspaper suggested officials had considered arming civilians in Gaza to provide security for aid convoys.
Reuters, citing the Israel Hayom newspaper, reported earlier this month that the civilians in question would not be linked to militant groups.
Police in Gaza are refusing to provide security to humanitarian aid convoys because of the risk of being targeted by Israeli forces, exacerbating the starvation crisis impacting many of the 1.9million displaced Palestinians across the Gaza Strip.
An incident on Thursday saw 21 people killed as a hail of gunfire fell on an aid convoy in northern Gaza. The Hamas-controlled Palestinian health ministry said Israeli troops were to blame; the Israel Defense Force (IDF) says its soldiers did not open fire.
Thursday’s incident had echoes of the so-called ‘flour massacre’ at the end of February in which 118 Palestinian civilians were killed.
The IDF denied responsibility, claiming people were killed in stampedes and run over by delivery drivers – but international observers say they saw a ‘large amount of gunshot wounds’ on patients being treated in hospital.
It later maintained that its troops did not fire at the humanitarian convoy, but ‘did fire at a number of suspects who approached the nearby forces and posed a threat’, it said in a statement.
Israel has been at war with Hamas since October 7, when terrorists crossed the border and killed 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, and kidnapped 253 people.
Since then, Israel has carried out a near-ceaseless campaign of aerial strikes and ground operations within Gaza itself. Talks are continuing on a potential ceasefire.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry claims 31,490 Palestinians have been killed since the war began.
In the meantime, new means of delivering aid to Palestinians are being devised – including maritime corridors after US airdrops of aid killed at least five on the ground after parachutes failed to open.
