<div dir="ltr"><font size="1"><a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2025/10/how-the-murder-of-gaza-journalist-saleh-aljafarawi-and-hamass-crackdown-on-israel-backed-militias-are-connected/">https://mondoweiss.net/2025/10/how-the-murder-of-gaza-journalist-saleh-aljafarawi-and-hamass-crackdown-on-israel-backed-militias-are-connected/</a></font><h1 class="gmail-post-title">How the murder of Gaza journalist Saleh Aljafarawi and Hamas\u2019s crackdown on Israel-backed militias are connected</h1>
<div class="gmail-sub-title">Beloved Gaza journalist Saleh Aljafarawi was
murdered amid a Hamas crackdown on Israel-backed armed clans and
militias that looted aid and sowed chaos during the war. Here\u2019s how
they\u2019re all connected.</div>
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<span class="gmail-post-author"><span class="gmail-by">By</span> <a href="https://mondoweiss.net/author/tareqhajjaj/" title="Posts by Tareq S. Hajjaj" class="gmail-author gmail-url gmail-fn" rel="author">Tareq S. Hajjaj</a></span>
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<span class="gmail-date-link">October 14, 2025</span>
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<a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2025/10/how-the-murder-of-gaza-journalist-saleh-aljafarawi-and-hamass-crackdown-on-israel-backed-militias-are-connected/#comments" class="gmail-mw-meta-post-comment" title="Comments"><i class="gmail-fas gmail-fa-comment"></i>1</a>
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<img width="408" height="263" src="https://mondoweiss.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/131025_Dair_El-Balah_OSH_0025-1024x661.jpg" class="gmail-attachment-large gmail-size-large gmail-wp-post-image" alt="Members of the armed wing of Hamas, the al-Qassam Brigades, stand guard during the handover of Israeli captives to the Red Cross as part of the second phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, October 13, 2025. (Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images)" title="How the murder of Gaza journalist Saleh Aljafarawi and Hamas\u2019s crackdown on Israel-backed militias are connected" style="margin-right: 0px;">
Members of the armed wing of Hamas, the al-Qassam Brigades, stand
guard during the handover of Israeli captives to the Red Cross as part
of the second phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, October
13, 2025. (Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images)
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<div class="gmail-mondo-ads-d3474af7c8c5af0e40c0d6e82f8b2cb8 gmail-mondo-ads-before-content" id="gmail-mondo-ads-d3474af7c8c5af0e40c0d6e82f8b2cb8"></div>
<p>The killing of prominent Palestinian journalist Saleh Aljafarawi on
Sunday night, just a few days after the ceasefire between Israel and
Hamas was announced, was a shock to many across Gaza. But the timing of
the beloved journalist\u2019s death raised many questions around the state of
chaos and lawlessness spreading across the Strip after the end of the
war. </p>
<p>According to local sources, contact was lost with Aljafarawi during
the day on Sunday. In the evening, news broke that he had been killed in
the Sina\u2019a area west of Gaza City. When his body arrived at the al-Ahli
Arab Hospital, local sources said that signs of torture were apparent
on his body and that seven bullets had pierced him. His wrists also
displayed signs that he had been restrained.</p>
<p>Aljafarawi had gathered a significant following on social media
during the past two years of Israel\u2019s genocide in Gaza, documenting
numerous massacres and airstrikes in the Strip\u2019s northern half
throughout the war. </p><div class="gmail-mondo-ads-60e03d4d4b69f3ec757e6d7377c59da3 gmail-mondo-ads-injection-1" id="gmail-mondo-ads-60e03d4d4b69f3ec757e6d7377c59da3"></div>
<p>Local sources indicate that Aljafarawi was killed by an armed group
from the Doghmush clan, one of the largest Palestinian families in Gaza
with a long history of enmity with Hamas that spans decades. The
Doghmush clan has been accused by Hamas of collaborating with Israel.</p>
<div class="gmail-wp-block-image">
<img width="408" height="408" src="https://mondoweiss.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/jafarawi.jpg" alt="Saleh Aljafarawi's Facebook profile picture. (Photo: Social Media)" class="gmail-wp-image-318369 entered gmail-lazyloaded" style="margin-right: 25px;">Saleh Aljafarawi\u2019s Facebook profile picture. (Photo: Social Media)</div>
<p>According to local reports and close friends of Aljafarawi, he was
killed while covering the clashes between the Doghmush clan and the <a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2025/06/inside-the-hamas-unit-fighting-israeli-armed-gangs-that-loot-aid-and-facilitate-displacement-in-gaza/">Arrow Force</a>, a Hamas unit formed during the war to fight Israeli-armed gangs that looted aid. </p>
<p><em>Mondoweiss</em> attempted to contact members of the Arrow Force
for comment on Aljafarawi\u2019s death, but its ongoing fighting with
Israel-backed armed gangs across Gaza has made establishing contact
difficult. </p>
<p>An official from the Ministry of Interior, which oversees the Arrow Force, told <em>Mondoweiss</em>
that Aljafarawi was \u201cdeliberately targeted\u201d by a group \u201coutside the
law.\u201d The official added that members of the group were \u201cdealt with in
the framework of revolutionary law.\u201d</p>
<p>On Monday, a viral video circulated online, allegedly depicting
members of the Arrow Force lining up and executing a group of men
accused of treason and of collaborating with the Israeli army via firing
squad.</p>
<h2 class="gmail-wp-block-heading"><strong>Hamas launches security campaign against Israel-backed gangs and militias</strong></h2>
<p>When Israel broke its previous ceasefire with Hamas in March earlier
this year, one of the chief targets of Israeli forces was civil servants
in the Ministry of Interior, which included the police and internal
security forces. The systematic targeting of these bodies aimed to <a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2025/05/israel-is-creating-a-power-vacuum-in-gaza-by-backing-armed-looters-and-killing-anyone-who-tries-to-stop-them/">create a power vacuum and sow chaos</a> in the Strip. During the war, the Israeli intelligence <a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2025/06/inside-the-hamas-unit-fighting-israeli-armed-gangs-that-loot-aid-and-facilitate-displacement-in-gaza/">funded and armed criminal gangs and local clans</a>
to attack Hamas and loot humanitarian aid, deepening social
polarization. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu openly
acknowledged this policy last June.</p>
<p>One of the most notorious of these armed groups, the so-called
Popular Forces, is led by Yasser Abu Shabab, a member of the Bedouin
Tarabin clan. He is believed to be located in Rafah, in areas still
under Israeli control.</p>
<p>Immediately after the war ended, chaos spread across Gaza as Hamas
launched a large-scale security campaign to restore order and apprehend
collaborators accused of working with Israel during the war. The
campaign also sought to dismantle armed groups operating under Israeli
protection.</p>
<p>Hamas announced the mobilization and deployment of 7,000 security
personnel across Gaza to \u201cbegin restoring order, end the chaos, and
pursue collaborators with the Israeli army.\u201d</p>
<p>When asked by a reporter about the \u201crearming\u201d of the Hamas police and security forces on Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump <a href="https://x.com/DropSiteNews/status/1977509662170730542">told journalists</a>
that \u201cwe\u2019re understanding, because they do want to stop the problems,
and they\u2019ve been open about it, and we gave them approval for a period
of time.\u201d Trump later <a href="https://x.com/DropSiteNews/status/1978174441684095343">doubled down</a> on his defense of the Hamas crackdown, admitting that Hamas \u201cdid take out a couple of gangs that were very bad.\u201d</p>
<p>\u201cAnd that didn\u2019t bother me much, to be honest with you,\u201d the U.S. President told reporters.</p>
<p>The campaign began in Gaza City and in the Tal al-Hawa area, when
members of Hamas\u2019s Arrow Force stormed a residential block belonging to
the Doghmush family in the Sabra and Sina\u2019a areas. The operation
followed a complete siege of the area, targeting several members of the
clan accused of collaborating with Israel.</p>
<p>The Telegram channel <em>al-Hares</em> (\u201cThe Guardian\u201d), a platform
affiliated with the Resistance Security apparatus concerned with
deterring and warning against collaboration with Israel, reported that
an internal security plan had been launched to \u201csecure the internal
front.\u201d According to the channel, security officers vowed to pursue all
criminal and security offenders throughout the Strip.</p>
<p>The first strike was against the Doghmush family compounds in Gaza City, when Arrow (<em>Sahm</em>)
forces stormed a residential block belonging to the clan and killed
over fifteen people, according to field accounts. The Arrow forces
continued to besiege the area and demanded that several family members
wanted for criminal offenses \u2014 unrelated to collaboration \u2014 be handed
over.</p>
<p>These individuals had previously been convicted and imprisoned by
Hamas before the war but were released during the genocide. Local
sources told <em>Mondoweiss</em> that during the war, they were involved
in looting, theft, and spreading chaos. When they refused to surrender
to the Arrow unit, they sought refuge inside the Jordanian Field
Hospital in Tal al-Hawa.</p>
<h2 class="gmail-wp-block-heading"><strong>What happened the day Saleh Aljafarawi was killed</strong></h2>
<p>Sources told <em>Mondoweiss</em> that members of the Doghmush clan
kidnapped both Saleh Aljafarawi and Naeem Naeem, the son of senior Hamas
leader and politburo member Bassem Naeem, killing them both. On the
same day, the clan reportedly killed two resistance fighters, including
Muhammad Imad Aqel, the son of senior Hamas commander Imad Aqel, who was
assassinated by Israel in 1993.</p>
<p>The Aqel family issued a statement accusing the Dogmush clan of
responsibility. \u201cAt the beginning of the ceasefire on Friday, October
10, our son left one of the combat tunnels with one of his fellow
fighters to check on their companions,\u201d the family wrote. \u201cThey were
ambushed by a group of gunmen who had been waiting for them around the
Jordanian Field Hospital.\u201d</p>
<p>The statement said that the gunmen were from the Doghmush family and
belonged to Israeli-backed militias affiliated with the \u201cZionist
occupation.\u201d </p>
<p>\u201cThey kidnapped our son, interrogated him, stole his personal weapon
and a sum of money, and executed him in cold blood,\u201d the family
continued.</p>
<p> The family\u2019s statement held the Doghmush clan responsible and called
on it to withdraw \u201ctribal protection\u201d from the \u201ccriminal group\u201d
responsible for killing Aqel, who was a member of the Qassam Brigades.</p>
<p>Clashes between the Doghmush clan and Hamas\u2019s Arrow forces continued
for days, leaving at least fifteen members of the Arrow unit dead.</p>
<p>The Doghmush family later issued its own statement condemning the killings.</p>
<p>\u201cWe, the Doghmush family, strongly denounce the killing of citizen
Muhammad Aqel and journalist Saleh Aljafarawi,\u201d the statement read.
\u201cThese were individual acts that do not represent our family and only
serve the occupation\u2019s agenda. We affirm that there are no conflicts
between our family and the Aqel or Aljafarawi families, and that our
relationship with them is one of mutual respect and appreciation.\u201d</p>
<p>A family member from the Doghmush clan in Gaza City, speaking to <em>Mondoweiss</em>
on condition of anonymity, said that seven individuals from the clan
were wanted by Hamas security and had been convicted of criminal
offenses before the war.</p>
<p>\u201cWhen the war ended, the Sahm forces came and demanded that these
seven men surrender, but they refused and took shelter inside the
hospital,\u201d the source said. \u201cThe Arrow forces then completely besieged
the Doghmush neighborhood, preventing anyone from entering or leaving.
They went door to door with lists of names, verifying identities. Anyone
whose name appeared on their list risked torture or execution.\u201d</p>
<p>The witness also described scenes of abuse, claiming that Arrow
fighters shot several family members in the legs and tortured young men,
including pulling out their fingernails.</p>
<p><em>Mondoweiss</em> attempted to contact members of the Arrow Unit
and the Ministry of Interior for comment on these allegations. At the
time of publication, the contacts could not be reached due to the
ongoing security campaign.</p>
<p>The Doghmush family has a decades-long history of rivalry with the
Hamas movement in Gaza. When Hamas took control of the Strip in 2007, it
launched an extensive campaign to crack down on and disarm all armed
clans, many of which were affiliated with Fatah and the Palestinian
Authority. Among these families were the Doghmush clan, the Hilles clan,
and several others. </p>
<p>The clashes that year near the Doghmush family compounds in the Sabra
and Tal al-Hawa neighborhoods left over 200 members of the Doghmush
family dead.</p>
<p>Today, as Hamas\u2019s latest security campaign continues, many in Gaza
have expressed their belief on social media that the Doghmush clan
seized the opportunity during the chaos of war \u2014 and Israel\u2019s targeting
of Hamas security forces \u2014 to settle old scores. Several social media
accounts have accused members of the Doghmush clan of even collaborating
with the Israeli army to combat Hamas.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, the chair of the largest assembly of clans in Gaza, Abu Salman al-Mughani, <a href="https://x.com/muhammadshehad2/status/1978062295889502715">expressed his support</a>
for the Hamas crackdown, asserting that the accused were responsible
for killing children, collaborating with Israel, looting aid and homes,
and perpetuating the famine in Gaza.</p></div></div></div>
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