Hamas executes alleged collaborators in Gaza

Hamas fighters tightened control across Gaza, carrying out public executions of men accused of collaborating with Israeli forces and visibly redeploying along routes needed for aid deliveries. Video showed masked gunmen forcing seven men to their knees in Gaza City before shooting them; a Hamas source confirmed the killings but the identities of those killed and the exact timing could not be independently verified. Palestinian security sources reported dozens killed in recent clashes between Hamas and rival factions.

Despite an ongoing ceasefire and partial Israeli pullback from urban areas, Israeli strikes and drone fire continued, with Gaza health authorities reporting fatalities from a drone strike east of Gaza City and an air strike near Khan Younis. Israel said it fired on people who crossed truce lines after ignoring warnings; Hamas accused Israel of violating the ceasefire. The Israeli military remains deployed across much of Gaza, even as promised increases in aid have yet to reach many in the territory of 2.2 million people facing severe food shortages.

Hamas has asserted it will enforce order in Gaza, targeting alleged collaborators, armed looters and drug dealers, and has begun clearing rubble and repairing infrastructure to open key routes for humanitarian access. The group’s reassertion complicates efforts to implement a longer-term resolution envisioned in a U.S.-led ceasefire plan that Israeli leaders say requires Hamas’s disarmament—a demand the militants have rejected. A recent summit co-hosted by the U.S. produced no public breakthrough on creating an international force or new governing body for Gaza.

The ceasefire followed the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas gunmen and a prolonged Israeli military campaign that Gaza health authorities say killed nearly 68,000 people and left vast areas in ruins; thousands more are feared trapped under rubble. Since the truce began, Gaza’s Civil Defence reported hundreds of bodies recovered, while aid convoys and rubble-clearing operations have begun under armed protection. UNICEF said critical supplies are arriving but urged a significant scale-up.

In Israel, families continued to seek closure over hostages taken in 2023; authorities identified four bodies returned by Hamas, and at least 23 hostages remain declared dead with others unaccounted for. The humanitarian crisis, destruction, and unresolved political demands have left the ceasefire fragile, and observers warn that ongoing violence, mutual distrust and competing security claims present major obstacles to stabilizing Gaza and achieving a durable peace.