Hamas tightened its grip on Gaza’s devastated cities Tuesday, launching a sweeping crackdown and executing alleged collaborators, even as U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to forcibly disarm the militant group under a new international plan.
The Israeli military confirmed that the remains of four more hostages had been brought back from Gaza, following Hamas’s handover of four other bodies and the release of the last 20 surviving captives a day earlier.
Hamas released chilling footage on its official channel showing eight blindfolded men being executed in the street, labeling them “collaborators and outlaws.” The video, reportedly filmed Monday evening, surfaced as gun battles erupted across Gaza between Hamas’s security forces and armed Palestinian clans during the fifth day of a U.S.-brokered truce with Israel.
In northern Gaza, where Israeli forces have pulled back, Hamas’s black-clad police units have resumed patrols. The group’s Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades also provided crowd control as prisoners freed from Israeli jails arrived home Monday to cheering crowds.
A Hamas security source told AFP that its newly formed “Deterrence Force” is carrying out “ongoing field operations to ensure security and stability,” targeting armed groups and individuals suspected of collaborating with Israel.
“For long hours this morning, there were heavy clashes between Hamas forces and members of the Hilles family,” said a resident of Shujaiya, a Gaza City neighborhood near Israeli-held territory. “We heard intense gunfire and explosions, and security forces arrested several people. We support this,” he added.
Since seizing control of Gaza from rival faction Fatah in 2007, Hamas has maintained dominance in the enclave. But under the new U.S. plan — endorsed Monday at a Trump-chaired summit in Egypt — Hamas is to be disarmed and excluded from any future Gaza government.
“First, Hamas has to give up its arms,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CBS News. “Then, we must ensure no more weapons factories or smuggling routes exist in Gaza. That’s demilitarisation.”
President Trump said militants who surrender their weapons would be granted amnesty, warning that those who resist “will be disarmed quickly and perhaps violently.”
Despite the tense atmosphere, many Palestinians said Hamas’s return to the streets offered a sense of security after months of chaos. “When the police came back, we started to feel safe again,” said Abu Fadi Al-Banna in central Gaza.
Meanwhile, Israel continued to recover and identify the bodies of hostages returned under the truce deal. Among them were Israeli national Guy Iluz, Nepali student Bipin Joshi, and Israelis Yossi Sharabi and Daniel Peretz.
In Tel Aviv, families of freed hostages celebrated while calling for the return of the remaining bodies. “Now we can finally bring closure to the nightmare that began over two years ago,” said Nira Sharabi, widow of Yossi Sharabi.
Demonstrator Barak Cohen summed up the mixed emotions in Israel: “I didn’t think we’d see the day all living hostages return. But bringing back the dead is proving even harder.”
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