Israeli politicians reacted angrily on Wednesday to news that Hamas is exacting vengeance against local militias in the Gaza Strip, telling JNS that it once more demonstrates the terror group’s ruthlessness.
“Hamas’s brutality doesn’t stop at Israelis—it consumes anyone who stands in its way,” said Knesset Member Dan Ilouz (Likud). “The reports from Gaza show exactly who they are: a violent, fanatical mafia that rules through fear, murder and terror. These are not freedom fighters or victims; they are part of a system of terror devouring itself,” he added.
In a reprise of its actions in 2007, when Hamas violently overthrew the Palestinian Authority, the group is moving aggressively to eliminate its opponents, launching a purge against competing militias and conducting public executions against those who opposed its rule.
“Hamas is re-establishing control,” Hasan Abu Hanieh, a Jordan-based analyst, told The Wall Street Journal on Oct. 14. “Hamas will be even more aggressive now to prove to the outside world that no one can remove them, that no force can challenge them.”
Religious Zionism Party MK Simcha Rothman pointed out the hypocrisy of those criticizing Israel for two years on the basis of human rights, telling JNS: “It turns out that the entire hypocritical world that talked about death and hunger in Gaza is completely silent when a murderous terrorist organization commits Islamic State-style murder in broad daylight.
“The truth is clear. The United Nations, human rights organizations, [French President Emmanuel] Macron and [U.K. Prime Minister Keir] Starmer do not care about the lives of Gazans if it is not used to attack Israel.”
Yair Lapid, chairman of the Yesh Atid Party and Israel’s opposition leader, told JNS: “We haven’t forgotten for a moment that Hamas is an evil, extremist terror organization, and so we shouldn’t be surprised by their actions.”
The Prime Minister’s Office, asked by JNS how Hamas’s assault on its rivals might affect the Trump peace plan, said: “The 20-point plan says that Israel will make sure that Hamas is disarmed, that Gaza is demilitarized, and makes sure that Gaza never poses a threat to the State of Israel again. And we are looking forward to this entire agreement being upheld.”
During the two years of fighting against Hamas, Israel reportedly supplied weapons to Gaza clans and gangs opposed to the terrorist group.
Some clans remain defiant despite Hamas’s crackdown. Hussam al-Astal, 50, who heads a local militia in Khan Yunis, told Israel’s Channel 12: “We are telling the public: ‘Don’t be afraid of Hamas. Hamas is finished and we are on the ground. We have the power and the capability.’”
Clashes have been reported in recent weeks between Hamas and the al-Mujaida clan, a powerful family in the city of Khan Yunis. Hamas attempted to enforce its rule in the area, losing more than 22 fighters in those clashes, Ynet reported on Oct. 10.
Hamas also reportedly attempted to assassinate Yasser Abu-Shabab, leader of a militia in Rafah. The assassination attempt failed because he is currently in an area under Israeli control, according to Palestinian reports.
The Abu Shabab militia vowed to continue to defend the Rafah area, telling Ynet that it hopes the Gaza Strip will become “a safe place without terrorist organizations, without unnecessary weapons and without wars.”
Hamas views the clans as a serious internal threat to its control and Gaza could see a wave of violence in the coming weeks and months as the terror group attempts to subdue its opponents, Ynet reported.
