No fewer than 27 people have been claimed in intense clashes between Hamas fighters and fighters of the Dughmush clan in the Gaza urban area, marking one of the most violent intra-Palestinian conflicts since the cessation of extensive Israeli campaigns in the territory.
Masked Hamas militants engaged in shooting with family militants near the city's medical facility, according to witnesses.
Authority Account
A senior official in the interior ministry under Hamas stated that armed units surrounded them and entered fierce battles to detain them. The ministry reported that eight its members were killed in "a militant attack by a armed group".
Healthcare officials confirmed that nineteen Dughmush family fighters and eight Hamas militants had been killed since conflict started on the weekend.
Local Accounts
Observers reported that the confrontations broke out in the Tel al-Hawa area in southern Gaza City after a Hamas unit of more than 300 fighters advanced to attack a residential block where Dughmush militants were dug in.
Residents described chaotic situations as numerous households evacuated their residences under sustained firearm exchanges, with a significant number having been forced to move frequently during the war.
"In this instance residents weren't escaping Israeli assaults," one resident stated. "They were running from their fellow Palestinians."
Long-Standing Strain
The Dughmush clan, a significant Gaza family, has long had a tense relationship with the ruling movement, and its militant members have confronted the organization on multiple instances in the previous years.
The Hamas-run interior ministry declared its units were seeking to restore order, cautioning that "all militant actions not within the system of the Palestinian resistance" would be dealt with firmly.
Conflicting Narratives
Each faction leveled charges over who initiated the violence for starting the conflict.
The movement earlier said that Dughmush militants eliminated two its combatants and injured five others, resulting in the movement to commence a mission against them.
Conversely, a Dughmush clan insider stated to regional press that Hamas fighters had approached a building that formerly operated as the Jordanian medical center, where the clan had sought shelter after their homes in the al-Sabra district were destroyed in the recent Israeli attack.
The source alleged that the authority attempted to remove the clan from the structure to establish a new base for its units there.
Larger Context
Hamas has reactivated about 7,000 members of its security forces to reinforce authority over Gaza territories recently vacated by Israeli military, according to area informants.
Accounts reveal that Hamas combat groups have been positioned across multiple areas, with particular units in non-uniform clothing and the remainder in the blue attire of the Gaza police. The Hamas communication department disputed that it was stationing combatants in urban zones.
