During the two-year Israeli war on Gaza that followed Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack, the group faced growing internal challenges, including clashes with armed clans and factions that emerged amid the chaos and sought to spread lawlessness across the enclave.
Two days before the ceasefire took effect last Friday, Hamas fought one of its fiercest internal battles against gunmen from the Al-Majayda clan in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
When the fighting with Israel stopped, new confrontations erupted, this time with members of the Doghmosh clan south of the city, as Hamas also hunted armed groups it accused of operating under Israeli patronage.
The Abu Shabab Group
In recent months, Yasser Abu Shabab has risen as a key figure leading one of Gaza’s most prominent armed groups, estimated to number in the hundreds. His men, lightly armed, are based in Rafah, at Gaza’s southernmost edge, which remains under full Israeli control even after the ceasefire. Many residents there belong to Abu Shabab’s own Bedouin clan.
Abu Shabab has not spoken publicly since the war ended. Earlier, he had tried to expand his influence into Khan Younis by recruiting members of the Barbakh clan after their attack on Nasser Medical Complex and police forces protecting it in late June. The effort failed, however, and his influence remains confined to Rafah.
Hamas refers to his faction as the “Abu Shabab Gang”, saying it operates within Israeli-controlled areas of Rafah. Although their positions have not changed, their attacks have ceased since the ceasefire. In previous months, the group had repeatedly tried to exploit Israeli bombardments to infiltrate neighborhoods, loot civilians, and target Hamas fighters — notably in the Mawasi area and parts of Khan Younis.
Hamas accuses Abu Shabab’s men of “serving Israel”. Abu Shabab, who calls his faction the “Popular Forces,” has alternated between denying and admitting links to Israel or the Palestinian Authority.
Once a minor criminal figure detained by Hamas police, Abu Shabab had no prior political or militant background. His notoriety grew after his men looted aid trucks near Israeli military zones. Hamas pursued him relentlessly, killing his brother during one of the chases.
Though not yet a major threat, Hamas has continued to strike at his group to demonstrate control and is expected to mount further operations against them.
Hossam al-Astal
Another group operates in southeastern Khan Younis, particularly in Qizan al-Najjar, Jorat al-Lout, and Al-Manara. Led by Hossam al-Astal, a former officer in the Palestinian Authority’s security services, it consists of roughly 40 fighters. The area remains contested, with sporadic Israeli activity.
Reports suggest al-Astal split from Abu Shabab to form his own faction — a claim Abu Shabab denied on Facebook before deleting the post.
In 2022, Hamas sentenced al-Astal to death for allegedly helping Israel’s Mossad assassinate senior Al-Qassam Brigades commander Fadi al-Batsh in Malaysia in 2018. Despite the charges, his group has shown limited activity and carried out no major attacks.
Al-Majayda Clan
The Al-Majayda are one of Gaza’s largest clans, based mainly in Khan Younis. Tensions with Hamas escalated when clan members killed two Al-Qassam fighters and a mediator attempting to defuse the dispute. Hamas gave the clan a brief deadline to hand over the killers. When mediators failed, Hamas launched a large assault days before the ceasefire, killing the suspects and seizing weapons. Israeli airstrikes later hit Hamas forces involved, killing about 20.
Following mediation efforts, the clan pledged on Monday to hand over unlicensed weapons and affirmed support for Hamas in combating “security chaos.”
Central Gaza
In central Gaza, two small armed groups — the Abu Khammash and Abu Moghaiseb factions — surfaced around Deir al-Balah before the January ceasefire and reappeared after fighting resumed in March. Hamas quickly crushed both, killing and wounding several members before tribal elders brokered a truce and arranged for the surrender of their weapons.
The Doghmosh Clan
In Gaza City and the northern parts of the enclave, Hamas also clashed with the Doghmosh clan, which is concentrated in the Tel al-Hawa and al-Sabra neighborhoods. Clan members accused Hamas of killing their elder after he refused to cooperate with an Israeli plan to turn local clans into armed administrators of their neighborhoods.
During the war, Hamas accused Doghmosh gunmen of killing Al-Qassam fighters, seizing their weapons — including Yasin-105 anti-tank rockets — and attempting to assassinate more fighters. The operation was never completed due to Israeli airstrikes and Hamas’s preoccupation with the frontlines.
Before the war, Hamas had praised the clan’s leadership for rejecting Israeli offers to form local militias, a stance that led to Israeli strikes on their homes.
When the ceasefire began Friday afternoon, two Al-Qassam fighters — including the son of a senior commander — were killed by Doghmosh gunmen. Hamas issued an ultimatum to hand over the killers, then launched raids over the following two days.
The fighting left at least 20 Doghmosh members and six Hamas fighters dead, including senior figure Bassem Naim’s son and journalist Saleh al-Jafarawi, who was covering the clashes. Hamas later arrested several clan members and released a video showing executions of alleged “Israeli collaborators,” though it remains unclear if any belonged to the clan.
Northern Gaza
After the Doghmosh battle, Hamas forces stormed positions held by Rami Helles, leader of a militant group operating in Gaza City’s Shujaiya, Zeitoun, and Tuffah districts. The group, numbering in the dozens, retreated eastward as Israeli forces withdrew. On Tuesday, Hamas attacked again, killing and wounding several members.
Simultaneously, another Hamas raid targeted Ashraf al-Mansi’s group in Jabalia, Sheikh Radwan, Nasr, and Beit Lahia. His men, operating under Israeli drone cover, had reportedly looted property and attacked civilians, including near Al-Shifa Hospital.
Israeli Cooperation and Covert Networks
Israeli media have acknowledged that Israel treated wounded Palestinian fighters who collaborated with it against Hamas — particularly in eastern Gaza — and cited one case involving the tunnel explosion that killed members of Helles’s faction.
Hamas sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that a body once believed to belong to an Israeli soldier killed in a tunnel blast in Jabalia in May 2024 was later identified as a Palestinian operative from Shujaiya who had fought alongside Israel for pay.
“These cells were composed of infiltrators and mercenaries recruited by Israel to serve its objectives inside Gaza,” the sources said, adding that Hamas had decided to “deal with them decisively — whether during the previous ceasefire or after the war.”
They confirmed that Hamas is now implementing “a comprehensive plan to eliminate these gangs gradually.”
Trump’s Reaction
During a White House meeting with Argentine President Javier Milei, US President Donald Trump spoke approvingly of the way Hamas “took out two very evil gangs” in Gaza and “killed a number of them.”
Israel has made no official comment on Hamas’s campaign, though some Israeli analysts say the country has “abandoned its allies too quickly.” Hebrew-language media have continued to report extensively on Hamas’s internal security operations in Gaza and its pursuit of groups accused of collaborating with Israel.
