The Hamas regime has cracked down on three major clans in the Gaza Strip following the killing of five senior Hamas commanders. A report by the Institute for National Security Studies identified the clans as Dughmoush, Hilles and Abu Reish. "Hamas successfully imposed its rule over clan-based and other loci of power in Gaza," the report, titled "Hamas Tightens Its Hold on the Gaza Strip," said.Authored by Shlomo Brom, a former senior military intelligence commander, the report detailed the Hamas crackdown in wake of a spate of explosions in late July 2008. On July 25, five senior Hamas commanders were killed in a suicide attack on a Gaza beach cafe. In wake of the bombings, Hamas has sought to eliminate the Fatah presence in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, Hamas attacked such major Fatah-aligned clans as Hilles, based in Gaza City.
"Ahmed Hilles, the senior figure in the clan, had served as Fatah's director-general in Gaza and is [Mohammed] Dahlan's biggest rival," the report said. "He headed the group of Fatah operatives who cooperated with Hamas, but this did not help him in the current confrontation. It was important to Hamas to break the clan's military strength, the only locus of Fatah power left in the Strip." [On Sept. 24, Hilles was allowed to enter the West Bank town of Jericho. The Palestinian Authority said Hilles, released from Israeli custody, would be allowed to remain at Public Intelligence Administration headquarters in Jericho for 17 days.]
The report said Hamas also imposed its rule on the Dughmoush clan in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City. Dughmoush was said to have sponsored the Al Qaida-inspired Army of Islam, which conducted numerous abductions in 2006 and 2007.
Hamas also cracked down on the Abu Reish clan in the southern Gaza Strip. The clan, led by Ahmed Abu Reish, has been identified as a major player in the tunnel smuggling industry. "This clan suffered a heavy blow when dozens of its members were arrested and stripped of their weapons," the report said. "The containment of the Abu Reish clan strengthens Hamas' control of the smuggling industry and of all that takes place along the Egyptian border."