Hamas has started deploying armed fighters and police across parts of Gaza in an apparent attempt to reassert authority in the devastated Palestinian territory after the ceasefire deal agreed with Israel last week.
Images showed dozens of Hamas fighters at a hospital in southern Gaza during the release of Israeli hostages on Monday morning and there were reports of shootings and executions elsewhere in the territory. Telegram channels associated with Hamas said “collaborators and traitors” had been targeted, a reference to Israel-backed militia in the territory, while Hamas gunmen also engaged in bloody clashes with a powerful local family in Gaza City over the weekend.
