At least 27 people have been killed in intense fighting between Hamas security forces and armed members of the Dughmush family in Gaza City — marking one of the bloodiest internal confrontations since the end of major Israeli operations in the enclave.
Witnesses reported that masked Hamas gunmen exchanged heavy fire with Dughmush clan fighters near the Jordanian Hospital area.
According to a senior official from the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, security units surrounded the gunmen and engaged in fierce clashes to detain them.
The ministry confirmed that eight of its members were killed in what it described as “an armed assault by a militia.”
Medical sources said that 19 Dughmush clan members and eight Hamas fighters had died since the violence erupted on Saturday.
Eyewitnesses said the fighting began in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood in southern Gaza City when more than 300 Hamas fighters stormed a residential building where Dughmush gunmen were holed up.
Residents described scenes of panic as families fled under heavy gunfire, many of whom had already been displaced several times during the recent war.
“This time people weren’t fleeing Israeli attacks,” one resident said. “They were running from their own people.”
The Dughmush family, one of Gaza’s most influential clans, has a long and strained relationship with Hamas, with previous violent confrontations between the two. The Interior Ministry said its forces were working to “restore order” and warned that “any armed activity outside the framework of the resistance” would be dealt with firmly.
Both sides blamed each other for sparking the violence. Hamas claimed Dughmush fighters had killed two of its members and wounded five others, prompting the raid. However, a Dughmush family source told local media that Hamas forces attempted to evict them from a building that once served as the Jordanian Hospital, where they had taken shelter after losing their homes in the al-Sabra neighborhood during recent Israeli strikes. The source alleged that Hamas sought to take over the building as a new operational base.
Local sources said Hamas has recalled about 7,000 members of its security forces to reassert control over areas vacated by Israeli troops. Armed Hamas units have reportedly been redeployed across several districts — some dressed in civilian clothing, others in blue police uniforms. However, the Hamas media office denied that it had deployed “fighters in the streets.”
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