Hamas defends Gaza executions after Trump threatens military intervention

First on Fox:While a senior Hamas official defended the movement’s crackdown on Palestinians in Gaza on Friday in an interview with Reuters, a Gaza lawyer hiding from terrorists warned that the killing of the movement’s critics continues.

In an exclusive interview from Gaza, Moamen Al-Natour, a lawyer, former Hamas political prisoner and head of the Palestinian Youth Development Organization, said that Hamas resurfaced from underground tunnels after the ceasefire. He added: “After the shooting stopped, Hamas fighters came out of the tunnels and slaughtered the families who opposed them.” “They are sending a signal that they are back – by terrorizing people.”

Defending the executions, Mohammed Nazzal, a Hamas terror official, told Reuters on Friday that there had always been “exceptional measures” during the war and that those executed were criminals guilty of murder.

Hamas accepts Trump’s peace plan that ends two years of war in Gaza and returns the hostages

A group of Hamas militants in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, where 20 Israeli hostages were released alive on October 13, 2025. (TPS-IL Photos)

On Thursday, Mr. President Donald Trump Truth Social issued a warning after a video spread online showing Hamas fighters executing Palestinians in Gaza City’s main square. He wrote: “If Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not part of the agreement, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them.”

According to Reuters, Hamas executed at least 33 people in recent days in what officials described as a campaign to “show strength” after the ceasefire. Israeli sources say that most of the dead belong to families accused of cooperating with Israel or supporting rival militias.

Al-Natour said that many local militias are still resisting the group across Gaza. In Rafah, the Abu al-Shabab clan has drawn attention for recruiting fighters and resisting Hamas control. In Gaza City, the Dugmush clan repeatedly clashed with Hamas terrorists. In Khan Yunis, the Al-Majaida clan also participated in armed confrontations.

Some members associated with the Helis network work in Gaza City in neighborhoods experiencing tension with Hamas. These factions do not control stable territory, but their sporadic resistance – from raids to armed confrontations – indicates the first cracks in Hamas’ grip.

In this still image from a verified video on social media and confirmed to Reuters by a Hamas source, seven men are forced to kneel and shot in the back by Hamas terrorists during public executions in Gaza on October 14, 2025. (Reuters)

“These militias come from the population,” Al-Natour said. “They need recognition and coordination to form a political umbrella – a transitional body to govern these areas and regulate their security.”

He said he and others are trying to work under what he called Trump’s peace framework, forming safe zones inside Gaza where non-Hamas civilians can access food, aid and protection. “We can build a governing body in these areas,” he said. “But those of us who speak out are being hounded. The people Hamas is killing now are just like me – the Palestinians who dared to speak out.”

Joseph Braud, head of the Peace Communications Center, said that Hamas is exploiting the period of calm that followed the war to settle old scores. “It is a dark time for many Hamas opponents in Gaza,” he told Fox News Digital. “They are using this moment to reassert their dominance through brute force. They killed a pregnant woman about 18 hours ago. It is an indiscriminate killing simply aimed at instilling fear in ordinary people.”

His organization released a video on Channel

Trump unveils 20-point plan to secure peace in Gaza, including granting amnesty to some Hamas members‘

Broad described the reality of Gaza as divided. He explained that reconstruction could begin in the areas beyond the yellow line – territory now under Israeli supervision – while fighting continues elsewhere. “This is the scenario envisioned in the 20-point plan,” he said. “Gazans opposed to Hamas, including those who have taken up arms in this conflict, can help form enclaves of self-rule that develop into a transitional authority with international support.”

He expected the formation of a coalition of anti-Hamas militias, supported by air cover from Israel The remaining ground battles will likely be carried out by private contractors. He added, “There is no conceptual return to the pre-October 7 approach.”

A military parade by the Hamas terrorist organization before the transfer of four Israeli hostages to the Red Cross on January 25, 2025. (TPS-IL)

Michael Milstein, head of the Palestine Studies Forum at Tel Aviv University and a former IDF intelligence officer, said Hamas has seized the tribes’ weapons and money, most of which comes from Israel, resembling Hezbollah’s takeover of southern Lebanon in 2000. “This leaves Israel with a dilemma,” he warned. “if it was Israeli military If we end up protecting these tribes, we risk starting another war with Hamas. If we abandon them, we may have to absorb them later, like the allies we evacuated from Lebanon.”

He described the initiative as “a tragic example of acting without understanding the reality of Gaza.”

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Gazans who spoke anonymously to Fox News Digital described chaos and fear. One man said that “the gangs are in the streets” and warned of the possibility of another internal war. Another said: “No one knows who will rule or what will happen next. We just want to live without bloodshed.”

The Trump team has framed the Gaza ceasefire as a foundation for lasting peace. But with executions, clan wars and the emergence of new militias, officials and residents alike say the postwar period may test whether that peace can hold — or whether Gaza enters another cycle of terror and revenge.

Reuters contributed to this report.