As Iyad Abu Ramadan, head of the Chamber of Commerce in Gaza City, arrived at his office on Monday morning, he saw a group of masked, armed men in civilian clothing standing at an intersection outside.

He is sure they were Hamas operatives, he said in a phone interview with The Times of Israel. “There is no other armed force that could be there,” he said. “The de facto authority is Hamas.”

Mohammad, who lives in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, also reported seeing gunmen deployed at junctions in recent days. “You can see two or three at the [various] crossroads, masked,” he told The Times of Israel by phone.

At night, he said, things turn violent.

Mohammad, whose name has been changed for his safety, said he was aware of several recent killings of civilians by Hamas. Residents learn each morning about what has happened overnight via local Telegram channels or word of mouth in the camp, he said.

Hamas does not announce these actions on its official social media accounts. But every few days since the ceasefire began and the Israel Defense Forces partially withdrew, Telegram channels linked to Hamas have been publishing footage showing violence against Gaza residents — people being shot in the legs or hit with stone blocks in ostensible punishment for alleged crimes including stealing aid, using drugs and collaborating with Israel.

“The situation is frightening,” Mohammad said. “From the moment the ceasefire began [on October 10], we started seeing random killings. It sows fear among Gaza residents, and sadly it’s still going on. There are gunmen who will kill you for alleged collaboration, or for reasons you don’t even know.”

On Saturday, the al-Saftawi family announced that Hisham al-Saftawi had been shot dead in his home in Nuseirat by Hamas gunmen. Mohammad confirmed the account and said the shooting occurred at 5 a.m., and that al-Saftawi was killed in front of his children. “They didn’t give an excuse,” he said, referring to Hamas.

He described al-Saftawi as a well-known figure in the camp. The family said it would not set up a mourning tent until it had avenged his death at Hamas’s hands.

Officially, Hamas police announced they would investigate the incident, but media outlets aligned with the terror group cited alleged unspecified criminal activity and said al-Saftawi had served in the Palestinian Authority security services when the Palestinian Authority, or rather the Fatah faction headed by its President Mahmoud Abbas, ruled the Strip between 2005 and the violent Hamas takeover in 2007.

The family’s public denunciation of Hamas was unusual; other families that have encountered Hamas violence and murder are generally far too terrified to speak out.

Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib’s brother lives in southern Gaza. On Sunday, this brother told the US-based Alkhatib that he was driving home when he found himself surrounded by masked Hamas gunmen who brandished weapons, checked his car and his ID, and only allowed him to continue after a thorough search.

Alkhatib, who has........

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