Gaza City has once again become the epicenter of turmoil and violence, as Hamas executed eight blindfolded men in a public square on Monday, October 13, 2025, just one day after a ceasefire went into effect. The shocking event, captured in graphic video footage widely circulated across social media and verified by multiple news outlets including CNN and BBC, has laid bare the brutal tactics Hamas is willing to employ to reassert its authority over the war-ravaged enclave.
The men, accused by Hamas of being "collaborators and outlaws," were forced to their knees in the al Sabra neighborhood of western Gaza City, hands bound and some partially stripped, as masked gunmen—some donning the group’s signature green headbands—shot them dead in front of a large, cheering crowd. The footage, described by the Palestinian NGO Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights as an “extrajudicial execution of citizens,” has sparked widespread condemnation and renewed fears about the security situation following the recent withdrawal of Israeli forces from parts of Gaza.
Among those executed was Ahmad Zidan al-Tarabin, reportedly responsible for recruiting agents to a rival non-Hamas-aligned militia, according to Israeli outlet ynet News. The executions occurred against a backdrop of escalating violence between Hamas and powerful Palestinian clans, particularly the Dagmoush family, who have historically maintained significant influence in the territory. On Sunday, just a day before the public killings, 52 members of the Dagmoush clan were killed in fierce clashes with Hamas’s internal security forces. Reports from Gaza indicate that Hamas militants used ambulances to storm the clan’s neighborhood, accusing them of collaborating with Israel—a charge the family vehemently denies.
“It’s a massacre. They’re dragging people away, children are screaming and dying, they’re burning our houses. What did we do wrong?” a distraught daughter of a clan member told ynet News, encapsulating the terror and confusion gripping many Gazans as rival groups and Hamas security units vie for control.
The violence comes amid a fragile US-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas, now in its fifth day. The ceasefire, which halted two years of devastating conflict triggered by the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel, has so far failed to bring the hoped-for stability. Instead, as Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza City, Hamas’s black-masked police resumed patrols, and a new security unit—the so-called Deterrence Force—began targeting armed clans and gangs, some of which are alleged to have received support from Israel, according to reporting by BBC and other international outlets.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza remains dire. The Israeli military confirmed on Monday that the remains of four more hostages held in Gaza were handed to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), following the earlier release of four others and the safe return of 20 surviving captives. The military identified two of the deceased as Guy Iluz, an Israeli national, and Bipin Joshi, an agriculture student from Nepal. Two others were later named as Yossi Sharabi and Daniel Peretz. As aid convoys struggle to enter the besieged territory, Gaza’s Civil Defence Service reported that 250 bodies had been recovered since the truce began, adding to a death toll of nearly 68,000 people killed during the Israeli military campaign, according to local health authorities.
President Donald Trump, who brokered the ceasefire and led a summit in Egypt to cement the truce, has found his peace plan facing daunting obstacles. In a series of statements made to reporters aboard Air Force One and during meetings with world leaders, Trump confirmed that he had given Hamas temporary approval to manage internal security in Gaza as part of a deal to secure the release of remaining hostages. “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 told reporters, as quoted by CNN and BBC. He added, “You have close to 2 million people going back to buildings that have been demolished, and a lot of bad things can happen. So we want it to be— we want it to be safe. I think it’s going to be fine. Who knows for sure.”
Yet, Trump also issued a stern warning: “If they don’t disarm, we will disarm them. And it will happen quickly and perhaps violently,” he declared during a meeting with Argentine President Javier Milei, reiterating the demands of his 20-point peace plan. The US-brokered plan, endorsed by world powers at the Egypt summit, calls for a demilitarized Gaza and explicitly states that Hamas must surrender governance of the territory. While Trump claimed that Hamas had agreed to disarm, the group has so far refused to publicly commit to laying down its weapons, clouding the prospects for a lasting peace.
Israel, for its part, insists that Hamas must not play any role in a future Gaza government, demanding the return of the remains of 24 deceased hostages and the complete disarmament of the group. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been unwavering: the war cannot end until Hamas relinquishes its weapons and control over Gaza. The Israeli Foreign Ministry, sharing the execution video online, stated, “The terror group rules through fear—executing civilians, torturing dissenters, shooting those who dare protest. Palestinians seeking food or freedom are met with bullets, not compassion. It’s not resistance—It’s tyranny.”
The Palestinian Authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, also condemned the executions as “heinous crimes” and “a blatant violation of human rights,” vowing to hold Hamas responsible for actions that “harm the supreme interests of the Palestinian people,” according to the official news agency WAFA.
Within Gaza, reactions to the executions have been mixed. Some residents, like Atta Kulab, 33, expressed a grim acceptance: “If those people have committed crimes and they are traitors, then they deserve to be executed. But if we are talking about misdemeanors then they should be granted clemency. People have been through a lot, have mercy on [them].” Others, such as Anwar Al-Qahouji, 50, voiced deep unease: “You sleep in your tents but don’t feel safe. People have changed. People are stealing. The strong prey on the weak. People have changed, things are not the same anymore.”
As Hamas deploys hundreds of workers to clear rubble and repair shattered infrastructure, the group’s resumption of power—marked by public executions and sweeping arrests—underscores the immense challenges facing any attempt to move beyond the current ceasefire. The summit in Egypt ended without significant progress on establishing an international peacekeeping force or a new governing body for Gaza, leaving the future of the territory as uncertain as ever.
In a region battered by years of war, the events of October 13 serve as a stark reminder that even in moments of supposed peace, violence and fear can return in an instant. The road to lasting stability in Gaza remains fraught with danger, distrust, and the ever-present threat of renewed conflict.