Trump demands Hamas disarm, as group moves against ‘collaborators’ in Gaza

US President Donald Trump has threatened to “violently” disarm Hamas over its moves to reassert control over the Gaza Strip and target what he calls “collaborators”.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump told reporters that if Hamas failed to disarm “within a reasonable period of time,” “we will disarm them.” He did not say when he expected the group to surrender its weapons.

His comments came as images began circulating online showing a public execution and other shows of force by Hamas fighters in Gaza since a US-brokered ceasefire began last week.

The execution, which BBC Verify geolocated at a crossroads in the center of Gaza City, is part of Hamas’ promise to crush “lawlessness” in the Strip.

Other verified clips show armed men carrying insignia identifying them as members of Hamas’ internal security force on patrol and masked fighters shooting at unarmed men.

Analysts told BBC Verify that the show of force was at least partly aimed at countering armed clans that have increasingly challenged the group’s control of the Strip in the past two years.

Tensions between Hamas and some of the groups it is currently fighting date back to before the war. Some, such as the Dughmush clan, have historically been involved in smuggling across the Strip’s border with Israel, an expert told BBC Verify. More than 50 people, including 12 Hamas members, lost their lives in the recent clashes between Dughmush and Hamas.

Israel had previously announced that it was supplying weapons to other armed groups in the Strip. An internal security unit of Hamas recently vowed to “destroy gangs and militias” that it accused of collaborating with the “enemy.”

A video that emerged Monday afternoon showed Hamas fighters executing a group of eight men. BBC Verify geolocated the images to an intersection in the central Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City, which was the focus of a major Israeli ground offensive in recent weeks but is back under Hamas control after the Israeli army withdrew.

Footage showed fighters, some wearing body armor and Hamas headbands, lining up men in front of a large crowd, including at least one young child.

After forcing the men to kneel, the crowd was heard chanting “collaborator” or “agent”.

The assembled warriors then opened fire on the bound men, who fell to the ground. The men then fired into the air and shouted “Long live the Al Qassam Brigades” (Hamas’ military wing).

Another verified video shows masked and armed warriors forcing a man to his knees before shooting him in the leg at the same Zeitoun intersection.

Several more gunshots were heard, followed by screams, but the footage does not show whether others were attacked. After the footage, many armed men stand guard around the injured man and walk away, waving to the spectators who witnessed the incident.

It is unclear what caused the incident, which first appeared online on October 10. Google image searches have never returned any results before.

Speaking to the BBC, Palestinians expressed their fear of public executions.

A lawyer living in Gaza said, “Why are people cheering for chaos? A masked man kills a masked man without any evidence, without investigation, without trial, without even a waiting period for appeal. What do we call this? Resistance? No, this is unlawful.”

“You can’t fix one mistake with another,” added an activist living in the central Gaza Strip. “Executions without a fair trial are crimes. May God guide our nation.”

Meanwhile, members of Hamas’ internal security force have also been deployed throughout Gaza City in the group’s show of force.

Two such fighters, bearing the insignia of internal security units and armed with rifles, could be seen in various images geolocated by BBC Verify at an intersection in Gaza City.

Other shows of force included gunmen carrying assault rifles marching through a market in the Zeitoun district, followed by a small group waving a Palestinian flag.

Professor Fawaz Gerges, Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics, told the BBC’s Today Programme: “I think what Hamas is trying to do is to use its Home Office powers to mobilize its forces to establish and consolidate its own control.”

“In areas under Hamas control, Hamas will be able to destroy various tribes, gangs, marauders and militias because its forces are more experienced, more capable and more determined,” he added.

Although Hamas has long-simmering rivalries with various armed groups in the Strip, Israeli bombardment of Gaza and the loosening of Hamas’ grip on power have allowed some clans to strengthen, analysts say.

“The collapse of other social institutions has increased the appeal of the clan, which can act as a social network for its members,” Yaniv Voller, senior lecturer in Middle East Politics at the University of Kent, told BBC Verify.

“At least some of the clans have reportedly received weapons and other support from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to serve as proxies against Hamas,” he added.

Some of the militias also operate in IDF-controlled areas. By analyzing videos circulating on social media, BBC Verify identified bases used by two rival groups deep within IDF-controlled territory, one near the southern town of Rafah and one near the northern town of Beit Hanoun.

In response to the reemergence of Hamas and the role of security forces in policing, Trump has previously said it does not fall outside the peace agreement.

“[Hamas] “We want to stop the problems and they were open about it and we gave them approval for a while,” he said.

“There are close to 2 million people returning to destroyed buildings, and a lot of bad things can happen. We want it to be safe, too.”

If the ceasefire is to have a meaningful impact, the United States and its allies have no choice but to allow Hamas to make some show of force in Gaza, Professor Gerges said.

“You cannot deliver aid without security. You cannot truly have life without security,” he said. “Americans realize that Hamas is the only force, and that’s the irony.”