Hamas has launched a sweeping crackdown across Gaza, executing alleged collaborators and reasserting control over the war-ravaged enclave, even as U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to forcibly disarm the militant group if it refuses to lay down its weapons.
The Israeli military confirmed Tuesday that the remains of four more hostages had been recovered from Gaza, a day after Hamas handed over the bodies of four others and released the final 20 surviving captives under a U.S.-brokered truce.
Hamas released a video showing the street execution of eight blindfolded and kneeling men it labelled “collaborators and outlaws.” The footage surfaced as heavy clashes erupted between Hamas security units and armed Palestinian clans in parts of the territory.
In northern Gaza, Israeli troops continued to pull back from Gaza City while Hamas’s black-masked police returned to patrol the streets. The group’s fighters also oversaw the arrival of released prisoners from Israeli jails on Monday.
A security source told AFP that Hamas’s newly established “Deterrence Force” was carrying out “ongoing field operations to ensure security and stability,” adding that “there will be no place for outlaws or those who threaten the security of citizens.”
Witnesses described intense gunfire and explosions in Gaza City’s Shujaiya district as Hamas fought members of the powerful Hilles clan. “The security forces arrested some of them. We support this,” said one resident.
Israel has insisted that Hamas must hand over all remaining hostages, return the bodies of the deceased, and disarm entirely as part of postwar arrangements.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with CBS News that the U.S. plan for Gaza “is very clear” — Hamas must be both “demilitarised and disarmed.”
Trump’s 20-point postwar plan, endorsed at a summit in Egypt, outlines that Hamas members who surrender their weapons will be granted amnesty. “If they don’t disarm, we will disarm them,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “And it will happen quickly and perhaps violently.”
Despite fears of renewed instability, some Gazans expressed relief at the reappearance of security forces. “After the war ended and the police spread out in the streets, we started to feel safe,” said Abu Fadi Al-Banna in Deir al-Balah.
Meanwhile, Israeli families continued to demand the return of the bodies of deceased hostages. The military identified two of the latest victims as Israeli national Guy Iluz and Nepali student Bipin Joshi, while the Families Forum named the others as Yossi Sharabi and Israeli army officer Daniel Peretz.
“Now we can finally bring closure to the nightmare that began over two years ago,” said Nira Sharabi, widow of one of the deceased hostages.
In Tel Aviv, hundreds gathered to celebrate the release of the surviving hostages while calling for the swift recovery of all remaining bodies.
“I didn’t think we’d reach this day where all the living hostages would return,” said demonstrator Barak Cohen. “But there are still great difficulties in bringing back the dead.”
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