Amid the ongoing security crisis in the Gaza Strip, the armed groups operating in the territory are no longer the well-known militant factions but smaller, clan-based militias that have turned against Hamas.
These militias have emerged from divisions that deepened following the war between Israel and Hamas, which significantly weakened Hamas’s control over the enclave. Each group now dominates specific areas and resources, pledging loyalty primarily to their clans and kinship networks.
The Daghmash clan
Among the most prominent of these groups is the Daghmash clan militia, believed to have around 3,000 fighters inside Gaza and an additional 1,500 outside the territory.
The group holds sway in the Sabra and Tel al-Hawa neighborhoods of Gaza City. According to clan leader Salah Daghmash, who spoke to journalists in 2007, its members are affiliated with various political factions, including Hamas, Fatah, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
Tensions with Hamas
The Daghmash clan has had a long history of clashes with Hamas, particularly after the latter seized control of Gaza in 2007. Most confrontations occurred in Sabra and Tel al-Hawa, after the clan’s fighters refused to surrender their weapons to Hamas authorities.