Eyewitnesses said the clashes erupted in the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood in southern Gaza City after a Hamas force of more than 300 fighters moved to storm a residential block where Dughmush gunmen were entrenched. The Dughmush family, one of Gaza's most prominent clans, has long had a tense relationship with Hamas, and its armed members have clashed with the group on several occasions in the past. The source claimed that Hamas sought to evict the family from the building to establish a new base for its forces there. Hamas has recalled about 7,000 members of its security forces to reassert control over areas of Gaza recently vacated by Israeli troops, according to local sources. Reports suggest armed Hamas units have already deployed across several districts, some wearing civilian clothes and others in the blue uniforms of the Gaza police.
