Reports from Gaza indicated that Hamas’ grip on the population may be weakening following the resumption of Israeli operations there and the blockade on humanitarian aid.
On Tuesday, a young man, Abd al-Rahman Sha’aban Abu Samra, was shot and killed by a Hamas operative after refusing to leave his position in a line for flour in Deir al-Balah, according to Palestinian social media reports.
Hamas operatives reportedly attempted to disperse a crowd waiting in line for flour after supplies had run out. When people refused to leave, some operatives allegedly fired into the air and shouted at the crowd to disperse.
A witness at the scene said that "a Hamas policeman came out and told the people: 'The flour is gone. Whoever has any left, it is his.' As soon as the first policeman finished speaking, the second policeman started shouting at the people, 'Get out, get out!' and then started shooting from where he was standing. I heard one of his colleagues tell him, 'Don't shoot!' and then he pointed his gun at the people.'"
"I went outside,” the witness continued, “and to my surprise, the same police officer who shot ran out and said afterwards, 'Someone got shot!’”
“He tried to start his car to get away from the scene without worrying about the fate of the wounded man, but it didn't work,” the witness reported. “At that moment, the murdered man came out to us, covered in blood, with five wounded young men from different families.”
Abu Samra died shortly afterward. His family members reportedly tracked down the Hamas policeman and took him to the entrance of Deir al-Balah. There, several of them, armed with pistols and rifles, opened fire on the man, killing him.
Footage of the execution was widely circulated on Palestinian social media, reflecting growing public frustration with Hamas amid the resumption of military operations and a sharp decline in humanitarian aid.
Hamas police later stated on Tuesday that it was investigating “the crime of killing a policeman while he was carrying out his mission to disperse a brawl in Deir al-Balah at noon, during which a civilian was killed as a result of his wounds.”
“The police are investigating the incident in order to arrest the criminals, and emphasize that severe legal measures will be taken against those who committed the heinous crime of killing a police officer [who was acting] in the line of duty,” the statement continued.
Hamas also called the lynching of the officer a “crime,” claiming it served Israeli interests by aiming “to break the internal Palestinian front and spread chaos and corruption, with the ultimate goal of uprooting our people.”
“This requires the responsible authorities to strike with an iron fist anyone who dares to cooperate with the occupation in its criminal plans,” Hamas concluded.
However, the Abu Samra clan responded to Hamas, directly blaming the group for killing their son.
“The killing of Abd al-Rahman is a tragedy that shook our hearts and doubled our pain at a time when our people are suffering under aggression and oppression,” the family said.
“While we confirm that the actions of the family members were an unplanned response to the killing of our son, we also confirm – in response to official statements – that our son, Abd al-Rahman, was killed directly by a Kalashnikov bullet in the chest, and not by shrapnel. There are eyewitnesses who saw everything that happened in the killing of our son.”
Gaza has dozens of clans like the Abu Samra family, many of whom have a well-organized structure led by a mukhtar (chieftain) and are heavily armed. Some of these clans have no official links to Hamas and often control several businesses within their neighborhoods. They reportedly tend to rely on internal family relations to maintain loyalty to the group. In the past, several of these clans have openly clashed with the Hamas terrorist organization, including during the Oct. 7 Iron Swords War.
This article was originally published by All Israel News.
