Violent clashes between Hamas security forces and members of the powerful Doghmush clan left several people dead in Gaza City over the weekend, according to multiple local sources and a Hamas Interior Ministry official.
Gunfights flared Sunday evening in the Sabra neighborhood after days of simmering tensions that began shortly after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect last week. Witnesses, who spoke on condition of anonymity for safety reasons, described heavy deployments of Hamas forces and hours of exchanges of fire before calm returned at about 9:30 p.m. (1830 GMT).
“About 200 members of the security forces were present and fought until they completely subdued the clan members,” one resident said, adding that there were casualties on both sides. A source within Gaza’s Hamas-run Interior Ministry confirmed fatalities and injuries among security personnel and Doghmush fighters, without providing a toll.
The ministry accused the Doghmush clan of involvement in murders and collaboration with Israeli forces, allegations the family denied. In a statement, clan leaders acknowledged unspecified “transgressions” by some relatives but condemned what they called indiscriminate targeting. “In recent days, it was enough to belong to the Doghmush family to be shot in the legs, killed, arrested, or have your house burned down,” wrote prominent figure Abu al-Hassan Doghmush on Facebook.
Roughly 60 members of the family were arrested, the ministry source said. On Sunday, the Interior Ministry announced a “general amnesty period” for “members of criminal gangs” who had not committed murders during the war, an apparent bid to defuse broader clan-related unrest.
Hamas has repeatedly clashed with Gaza’s influential clans — including the Doghmush — since seizing power in the enclave in 2007. The latest confrontation underscores the movement’s push to reassert internal control as its forces reappear in urban areas following the ceasefire. AFP journalists reported Hamas security units redeploying across markets, roads and key city intersections over the weekend.
The renewed internal violence poses an early test for public order during the fragile pause in fighting with Israel, raising concerns that clan rivalries and score-settling could complicate efforts to stabilize Gaza’s densely populated neighborhoods. Authorities have not released an official casualty count, and access to the area remains tightly controlled.
