(Israel Hayom) In addition to abusing Gazans and carrying out executions above ground, the Hamas terrorist organization has stepped up efforts to suppress internal opposition in the Strip by secretly detaining rivals in underground prison facilities.
Gazans suspected of disloyalty or subversion are being taken to subterranean detention centers where they are held in inhumane conditions and are denied food, water and sunlight. These Gazans are often arrested without notice or due process.
Since the current ceasefire began on Oct. 10, Hamas has intensified its crackdown on dissent. Much of this campaign is being carried out by the recently established Sahem (“Arrow”) Unit, which consists of around 1,000 armed terrorists. Many of these were transferred from the Nukhba Force of Hamas’s “military” wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
Earlier this week, according to a report in the London-based, Saudi-owned pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, several Hamas field commanders operating in the central refugee camps were killed. These commanders had received orders to pursue members of rival clans in northern Gaza.
The Sahem Unit has also recruited members from Hamas’s existing police apparatus and from the broader Gazan population, especially from Jabalia, many of whom had no prior affiliation with the terrorist organization. These recruits are used to assert control on the streets and crush domestic resistance, often through violent means, including executions and arrests.
On occasion, members of the Sahem Unit have carried out targeted assassinations of protest leaders from opposition circles in Gaza. In other instances, as shown in footage from Hamas-affiliated media, they have carried out public executions as a form of intimidation.
Officially, the Sahem Unit is tasked with tracking, monitoring and neutralizing alleged collaborators and undercover agents in the Gaza Strip. It also plays a central role in quelling civil unrest and suppressing Hamas’s political rivals.
Recently, Hamas-linked media reported operations against the militia of Yasser Abu Shabab. One such report included footage of armed operatives riding a black ATV, said to belong to the so-called Popular Forces militia.
On Tuesday, Hamas announced that members of the Popular Forces had been arrested and their military equipment confiscated. The militia has yet to issue a response.
The Sahem Unit was established in 2024, at the height of the ongoing war, by order of Hamas’s Interior Ministry. It was set up under the pretext of enhancing “internal security and stability” in Gaza. The unit was formed by pooling personnel from across the terrorist organization, including members of its various police branches, fighters from the “military” wing, individuals involved in its political framework, and ordinary Gazans.
In June, the IDF conducted an airstrike in the Sabra neighborhood in western Gaza City, killing the unit’s founder and commander, Zakr Ahmad Fuad Talib. Over the course of the war, Israel has killed more than 30 senior Hamas police and security figures.
Despite these losses, Hamas continues to fill leadership positions. On Sunday, Israel Hayom reported that the group recently appointed a new “interior minister” to oversee police operations and hunt down suspected collaborators. According to Palestinian sources, the role was given to Tayseer al-Batsh, a former Hamas police chief who was injured in an Israeli airstrike in 2014.
His first mission: to lead a crackdown on the Doghmush clan in Gaza City.
Originally published by Israel Hayom.
