Armed Clans Challenge Hamas Control as Gaza Descends into Factional Chaos

by Worthy News Jerusalem Bureau Staff

(Worthy News) – As the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continue operations across the Gaza Strip, armed clans are rapidly asserting power in the vacuum left by a weakened Hamas, according to senior Israeli military officials and multiple regional sources.

Reports from the Saudi-owned outlet Al Hadath claim that Hamas has effectively lost its grip on security in key parts of Gaza. Local residents now face rising lawlessness as criminal gangs and armed family factions seize humanitarian aid, loot homes, and terrorize neighborhoods, particularly in areas where Hamas fighters have been driven underground or out entirely by IDF ground forces.

“These clans are functioning like militias,” said a senior IDF officer to Israel’s Walla news. “They’re looting warehouses, forcibly taking food, and even engaging in shootouts—sometimes against Hamas security men.”

Many of these factions have deep roots in Gaza’s underworld, long involved in trafficking weapons, drugs, and smuggled goods from Egypt and Israel. While Hamas historically maintained uneasy alliances with several clans—cooperating with some during the October 7 attacks and subsequent looting—the relationship has now turned adversarial.

Hamas’s efforts to reassert control have grown increasingly brutal. Following the most recent ceasefire declaration, Hamas deployed convoys to both northern and southern Gaza, attempting to subdue clan resistance. Their methods have included arrests, torture, shootings intended to maim, and extrajudicial killings.

Among the most dominant factions is the Abu Shabab clan, led by Yasser Abu Shabab of the Tarabin family. After being expelled from Rafah, the clan has reestablished itself as a power broker in both northern and southern Gaza. Palestinian sources say the group simultaneously escorts humanitarian convoys and pillages them. Hamas has accused the clan of collaborating with Israel.

Another major player is the Dughmush (or Dajmash) clan, based in Gaza City’s Tel al-Hawa and al-Sabra neighborhoods. The group was previously implicated in the 2006 kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and has a long-standing record of clashes with Hamas. Its current leadership was decapitated last year amid rumors of ties with Israeli intelligence.

Additional clans destabilizing the region include:

• Abu Tir clan, known for smuggling through Sinai and based in Khan Yunis.
• Al Kashk clan, entrenched in Gaza City’s political and economic circles.
• Abu Risha clan, tied to Salafi elements and formerly active in Rafah.
• Shawish clan, small but active, with an unpredictable footprint.
• Baraka clan, linked to Fatah and mainly operating in Gaza City.

Former Palestinian security officials warn that these armed factions are driven less by ideology and more by profit and power. “There is no vacuum in Gaza,” said one. “If Hamas leaves a neighborhood, the clans take over. If this ceasefire holds, Hamas will have to reckon with them. If not, they’ll only grow stronger.”

As displaced children sleep in tents and humanitarian corridors teeter on collapse, Gaza’s future appears increasingly governed by a mosaic of militias—each carving out territory amid the chaos of war and the decline of centralized control.

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