
Hamas fighters tightened their grip on Gaza on Tuesday after carrying out public executions, defying Israel’s assertion that the war cannot end under US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan until the militant group is disarmed.
Witnesses and Palestinian sources said the executions captured in a video circulating late on Monday marked a dramatic show of force by Hamas, which has begun reasserting control in the war-ravaged enclave. In the footage, fighters dragged seven men accused of collaborating with Israel into a circle of onlookers in Gaza City, forced them to their knees, and shot them from behind. A Hamas source confirmed the video’s authenticity.
Residents said Hamas gunmen were increasingly visible across Gaza on Tuesday, manning key routes used for aid deliveries and tightening security after weeks of chaos.
Palestinian security officials reported that dozens have been killed in recent days amid clashes between Hamas fighters and rival factions vying for control.
Although Israeli troops have withdrawn from urban areas under the ceasefire declared last week, violence flared again on Tuesday. Gaza health authorities said five people were killed by Israeli drone fire as they went to inspect damaged homes east of Gaza City, while an air strike in Khan Younis killed one person and injured another.
Hamas accused Israel of violating the truce, but the Israeli military claimed it fired only on individuals who crossed into restricted zones despite repeated warnings to turn back.
The renewed violence and Hamas’s re-emergence on the streets underscore the steep challenges facing Trump’s much-touted “historic dawn of a new Middle East.” While Trump proclaimed the success of his ceasefire plan before Israel’s parliament on Monday, major hurdles remain unresolved including the disarmament of Hamas, the return of hostages, and the reconstruction of Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly insisted the war cannot end until Hamas surrenders its weapons and relinquishes control of Gaza demands that the group has flatly rejected. His stance has already torpedoed earlier peace efforts and now threatens to derail the current truce.
Trump, however, defended his approach, saying Hamas had been given limited approval to maintain order.
“They do want to stop the problems, and they’ve been open about it, and we gave them approval for a period of time,” Trump said.
Despite Trump’s assurances, the situation on the ground remains volatile. A summit he co-hosted in Egypt on Monday ended without progress toward forming an international security force or establishing a new Gaza administration.
Humanitarian agencies say aid deliveries remain far below promised levels, with many of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents facing famine.
The ceasefire halted nearly two years of devastating warfare that began after the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack in which gunmen killed about 1,200 people in Israel and seized 251 hostages. Gaza’s health authorities report nearly 68,000 dead, with thousands more missing under the rubble.
Gaza’s Civil Defence Service said 250 bodies have been recovered since the truce began. Entire neighborhoods lie in ruins, and the global hunger monitor warned in August that famine had taken hold.
UNICEF spokeswoman Tess Ingram said aid deliveries had begun, including tents, tarpaulin sheets, winter clothes, and hygiene kits, but stressed that more was urgently needed. “We hope to see a significant increase later this week,” she said.
In Israel, jubilation over the return of the last 20 living hostages has given way to renewed grief as authorities confirm the identities of four bodies handed over by Hamas on Monday one of them a Nepalese student. The Israeli military says 23 hostages remain in Gaza and are presumed dead.
Families of the victims fear their relatives’ remains may never be recovered. A special international task force is being assembled to help locate bodies still trapped beneath the rubble a grim reminder that even amid ceasefire, Gaza remains a graveyard of uncertainty.
Erizia Rubyjeana