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{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Political Violence in Gaza
| partof = the [[2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict]], the [[Fatah–Hamas conflict]] and the [[Palestinian internal political violence]]
| date = January 21 – February 2009
| place = [[Gaza Strip]]
| casus = Fights between Hamas and Fatah
| result = [[Hamas]] executes suspected Israeli collaborators and Fatah members
| combatant1 = {{flag|Hamas}}
| combatant2 = {{flag|Fatah}}
| strength1 =
| strength2 =
| casualties1 =
| casualties2 =
| casualties3 = * 35-80 Palestinians killed<ref> Hamas executes collaborators and restricts Fatah movement. </ref><ref name="jpost.com">{{Cite web|url=http://fr.jpost.com/Tags/satellite|title=Satellite News and latest stories | The Jerusalem Post|website=fr.jpost.com}}</ref>
75 injured, 3 blinded<ref name="miami">{{cite news|url=http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/story/881210.html|title=Still in charge, Hamas attacking Fatah rivals|publisher=[[Miami Herald]]|date=2009-01-31|access-date=2009-02-01|first=Shashank|last=Bengali|author2=Dion Nissenbaum}}{{dead link|date=March 2016}}</ref><ref name="jpost.com" />{{better source needed|date=September 2024}} including 19 members of Fatah<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Hamas-executes-suspected-Fatah-traitors-in-Gaza-3175208.php|title=Hamas executes suspected Fatah traitors in Gaza|publisher=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|date=2009-01-31|access-date=2009-02-01|first=Matthew
|last=Kalman}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=September 2024}}
| caption = Map of the Gaza Strip
| image = Gaza Strip map2.svg
}}
{{Campaignbox Gaza–Israel conflict}}
{{campaignbox Fatah–Hamas conflict}}

'''The 2009 Hamas political violence''' took place in the [[Gaza Strip]] during and after the [[2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict]]. A series of violent acts, ranging from physical assaults, [[torture]], and [[execution]]s of [[Palestinians]] suspected of [[collaboration]] with the [[Israel Defense Forces]], as well as members of the [[Fatah]] political party, occurred. According to [[Human Rights Watch]], at least 32 people were killed by these attacks: 18 during the conflict and 14 afterward, and several dozen more were maimed, many by shots to the legs.<ref name=JP_HRW>Khaled Abu Toameh, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110115102358/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1239710740363 Hamas killed 32 Gazans during, after op], Jerusalem Post 20-04-2009</ref><ref name=HRW_report>[https://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/04/20/gaza-hamas-should-end-killings-torture Gaza: Hamas Should End Killings, Torture] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407170715/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/04/20/gaza-hamas-should-end-killings-torture |date=2015-04-07 }}, [[Human Rights Watch|HRW]] 20-04-2009</ref>

==Suspected collaborators==
{{Main|2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict}}
[[File:Cast lead map.png|thumb|Map of the [[Gaza War (2008–2009)|Gaza War]] in 2009]]
Many of the attacks were against people suspected of being informants during the war. [[Hamas]] has denied its connection to these attacks, although it admitted that it had been making related arrests in an attempt to re-assert its authority over Gaza. According to a Hamas spokesperson, "The internal security service was instructed to track collaborators and hit them hard. They arrested dozens of collaborators who attempted to strike at Hamas by giving information to Israel about the fighters."<ref name="guardian">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jan/30/hamas-reprisal-attacks|title=Dozens believed dead in reprisal attacks as Hamas retakes control|last=McCarthy|first=Rory|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=2009-01-30|access-date=2009-02-01 | location=London}}</ref><ref name="arab">{{cite news|url=http://www.arabtimesonline.com/client/pagesdetails.asp?nid=27563&ccid=11|title=Hamas reasserts control over Gaza|publisher=[[Arab Times]]|date=2009-01-21|access-date=2009-02-01}}</ref>

Another Hamas official said, "Maybe some of them were killed because they were acting against the population, against the resistance."<ref name="indep">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/hamas-admits-killing-israeli-collaborators-1488649.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/hamas-admits-killing-israeli-collaborators-1488649.html |archive-date=2022-05-01 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Hamas admits killing 'Israeli collaborators'|work=[[The Independent]]|first=Donald|last=Macintyre|date=2009-01-22|access-date=2009-02-01 | location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref> A report in the [[Qatar]]-based newspaper ''[[Al-Sharq]]'' quoted [[Moussa Abu Marzuk]], a high-ranking Hamas official, as confirming that the organisation had killed known collaborators.<ref name="firstp">{{cite news|url=http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/gazacrisis,,hamas-admits-to-hunting-down-collaborators,72116|title=Hamas admits to killing collaborators|publisher=[[The First Post]]|date=2009-01-22|access-date=2009-02-01}}</ref>

''[[Ha'aretz]]'', an Israeli newspaper, reported on January 30 that a number of Palestinian [[espionage|spies]] working in Gaza for [[Israel]] had been "intercepted" by Hamas. The information these agents fed to the Israeli military was said to have been used "carelessly", and this may have led to their exposure and subsequent executions.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1059746.html|title=Intel sources: Gazan informants intercepted by Hamas during war|first=Amos|last=Harel|author2=Avi Issacharoff|publisher=Haaretz.com|date=2009-01-30|access-date=2009-02-01|archive-date=2009-04-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418150950/http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1059746.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

A [[human rights]] group based in [[Ramallah]] decried the attacks, releasing a statement that read, "A number of citizens have been extra-judicially executed during and after the Israeli military aggression on the Gaza Strip... Fire was opened on affected citizens at a close distance. In addition, individuals in official uniform or masked persons opened fire on people's legs, severely beat others, imposed house arrests, and threatened to punish citizens along with their families if they would not comply."<ref name=guardian />

[[Haidar Ghanem]], a Palestinian journalist who was a former employee for the Israeli human rights organization [[B'Tselem]], was accused of "collaborating with Israel" during [[Operation Cast Lead]] and was executed by Hamas on January 7, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. According to ''[[The Jerusalem Post]]'', "the PA state security court had sentenced Ghanem, a father of two, after holding only two brief sessions."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1232643736968&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull|title=Hamas executes former B'tselem field worker|publisher=jpost.com|date=2009-01-25|access-date=2009-02-07}}{{Dead link|date=September 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

== Fatah ==
{{Main|Fatah–Hamas conflict|Battle of Gaza (2007)}}
After Hamas won a majority of legislative seats during the [[2006 Palestinian legislative election|2006 Palestinian elections]], tensions between Hamas and Fatah became increasingly violent. In 2007, both parties engaged in a [[Battle of Gaza (2007)|military conflict]], in which Hamas won control over the [[Gaza Strip]] and forced Fatah into the [[West Bank]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4650788.stm | work=BBC News | title=Hamas sweeps to election victory | date=2006-01-26 | access-date=2010-04-23}}</ref> Since the 23-day Israeli assault on Gaza, Hamas has accused [[Mahmoud Abbas|Abbas]] of backing Israel, calling him a traitor and collaborator.<ref name=sfgate>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Hamas-executes-suspected-Fatah-traitors-in-Gaza-3175208.php|title=Hamas executes suspected Fatah traitors in Gaza|first=Matthew|last=Kalman|date=January 22, 2009|website=SFGATE}}</ref>

Fatah said 19 of its officials were executed and many more tortured. Gaza residents say Hamas used schools and other public buildings in Gaza City, and the towns of [[Khan Yunis]] and [[Rafah]], as detention centers to interrogate members of Fatah. They said three men have been blinded during questioning and over 60 of them shot in the legs as punishment.<ref name=sfgate/> The [[Palestinian Center for Human Rights]] stated that "Hamas operatives killed six members of Fatah" and that "[another] 35 were shot in the knees or beaten.<ref name="miami" />

[[Reuters]] reported that Hamas leadership in Gaza "denied the allegations [from Fatah] but said [Hamas] authorities had begun tracking down suspected 'collaborators' with Israel."<ref name="reut">{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSLL553336|publisher=[[Reuters]]|title=Hamas asserts control in Gaza, seeks "collaborators"|first=Nidal|last=al-Mughrabi|date=2009-01-21|access-date=2009-02-01}}</ref>

==Dissenters==
Testimonies from Gaza civilians documented in the course of [[Gaza War (2008–09)|Gaza War]] imply that people do not dare to speak out openly against Hamas; those who tried to object were shot by Hamas operatives.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}

== See also ==
* [[Timeline of the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict]]
* [[2007 Battle of Gaza]]
* [[Human rights in the Gaza Strip]]
* [[Palestinian political violence]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict}}
{{Gaza crisis}}
{{Hamas}}
{{Fatah}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:2009 Hamas Political Violence In Gaza}}
[[Category:Fatah–Hamas conflict]]
[[Category:History of Hamas]]
[[Category:Gaza Strip]]
[[Category:Gaza War (2008–2009)]]
[[Category:Palestinian war crimes]]
[[Category:2009 in the Gaza Strip|Hamas political violence]]
[[Category:2009 in politics|Hamas political violence in Gaza]]
[[Category:Human rights abuses in Palestine]]
[[Category:Political violence in Palestine]]

2009 Hamas political violence in Gaza - Revision history

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