Hamas Members Clash With Israeli-Backed Militia in Khan Younis, Southern Gaza

Armed clashes between Hamas members and agents of Israel unfolded in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, with multiple accounts describing fighters moving across the boundary between areas under Israeli control and areas under Hamas control.

“On Monday, April 20, a convoy of vehicles rolled through Khan Younis in southern Gaza, carrying armed, masked men”

Mondoweiss

Theالمصري اليوم report says witnesses described “several fighters from the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)” clashing with “militants from a militia backed by the Israeli occupation,” after the militia entered an area under Hamas control east of Khan Younis.

Mondoweiss

It adds that as the militia fighters attempted to retreat, “a Hamas member fired an anti-tank rocket toward their vehicle, and an explosion was heard,” and that a video verified by Reuters showed militants believed to be from the militia “wearing black uniforms and carrying AK-style assault rifles” arriving in eastern Khan Younis before “gunfire was heard.”

The Mondoweiss account places the incursion on April 20, describing “a convoy of vehicles rolled through Khan Younis in southern Gaza” carrying “armed, masked men” from an Israeli-backed militia operating east of the “Yellow Line.”

Mondoweiss says one gunman stepped out and told the crowd, “Hamas is over. We are the people, and the people are us; we will protect you from Hamas terrorism.”

In the same Mondoweiss narrative, Hamas security forces responded with “shells and heavy gunfire at the vehicles as intense clashes broke out,” according to videos circulated on social media.

Alongside the Khan Younis clashes, the sources describe Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and a rising death toll tied to Monday.

Theالمصري اليوم report says “the number of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza on Monday rose to at least five, according to The Guardian, citing Palestinian health officials.”

Al-Masry Al-Youm

It frames the clashes as part of a broader pattern of violence in the same day, with the video verified by Reuters showing militants arriving in eastern Khan Younis before gunfire.

The Times of Israel report shifts to the internal Gaza militia landscape, describing an anti-Hamas militia operating in areas controlled by the Israeli army in the southern Gaza Strip and presenting its leader’s claims about dismantling Hamas tunnels.

In that account, Ghassan al-Duhaini, described as “the leader of the Popular Forces,” says in a Facebook message posted on Thursday, “We have gradually begun to dismantle the tunnels, as they are the most important weapon.”

Taken together, the sources place the Khan Younis clashes and the airstrike toll in the same operational environment of shifting control and armed movement across Gaza.

The sources also present direct statements from militia leadership and Hamas spokespeople, tying the Khan Younis fighting to a wider contest over tunnels, weapons, and control of movement.

“Armed clashes between Hamas members and agents of Israel in Khan Younis (Details)”

Al-Masry Al-Youm

The Times of Israel says the head of the anti-Hamas militia, Ghassan al-Duhaini, described his work as dismantling Hamas’s “most important weapon,” and he promised a sequence: “Next, we will target weapon production facilities, then rockets, and finally small arms.”

It adds that Duhaini posted a photo showing Popular Forces members “at the entrance to a tunnel, wearing oxygen masks,” and that the Popular Forces were founded by Yasser Abu Shabab, who was “killed in December in what the group described as a family feud.”

The Times of Israel reports that Abu Shabab was replaced by his deputy, Duhaini, who “promised to continue the fight against the Palestinian terrorist group.”

In response, the Times of Israel quotes Abu Obeida, “the spokesman for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing,” issuing a threat on Monday: “A dark fate awaits them soon.”

Mondoweiss further quotes a Hamas-affiliated Telegram channel, Radea, describing the response as an ambush and stating, “Israel will not protect you. Our fighters are lying in wait for you.”

While the core event is described across the sources as clashes in Khan Younis involving Hamas and an Israel-backed militia, the framing differs in ways that shape what each outlet emphasizes.

Theالمصري اليوم report centers on the mechanics of the clash: it describes a militia entering a Hamas-controlled area east of Khan Younis, a Hamas anti-tank rocket fired toward the vehicle, and a Reuters-verified video showing militants “wearing black uniforms and carrying AK-style assault rifles” arriving before “gunfire was heard.”

Mondoweiss

It also ties the day’s violence to an airstrike death toll, saying Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes “rose to at least five.”

The Times of Israel, by contrast, uses the same broader Gaza context to foreground the anti-Hamas militia’s stated mission and Israel’s support, saying Israel has “already acknowledged its support for the militias fighting Hamas in the enclave.”

Mondoweiss frames the incursion as “a direct provocation” and emphasizes the political messaging of the gunman who declared, “Hamas is over. We are the people, and the people are us; we will protect you from Hamas terrorism.”

The Times of Israel also includes a separate strand of violence tied to the ceasefire line and the “Yellow Line,” saying “a Gazan who had crossed the ceasefire line in the north of the enclave on Saturday morning had been killed by troops.”

The sources portray the fighting and threats as part of an ongoing campaign with immediate operational consequences for Gaza’s armed landscape and for civilians caught between rival forces.

“On Monday, April 20, a convoy of vehicles rolled through Khan Younis in southern Gaza, carrying armed, masked men”

Mondoweiss

The Times of Israel describes the Popular Forces’ declared next steps after dismantling tunnels, saying Duhaini vowed to “target weapon production facilities, then rockets, and finally small arms,” and to ensure “no illegal weapon will enter Rafah.”

Al-Masry Al-Youm

It also describes the militia’s control zone between the Rafah border crossing and an IDF checkpoint where Gazans are questioned before entering the enclave, and it notes that reports of mistreatment by Popular Forces members toward Gazans returning to the Gaza Strip had been reported.

Mondoweiss, meanwhile, describes a broader pattern of Hamas security leaders and police officers facing repeated Israeli strikes on police positions, saying Abu Abdullah told Mondoweiss, “The targeting is not aimed at Hamas — it’s aimed at any effort made to protect civilians in Gaza,” and that it “seeks to prevent any Palestinian entity from establishing its authority over the Strip.”

Mondoweiss also says the incursion came one day after Ghassan al-Duheini announced on Facebook the launching of what he called “Operation Deter the Aggressors.”

Across the accounts, the next phase appears to be continued clashes along the Yellow Line and continued tunnel-and-weapon targeting claims, with Hamas and Israel-backed militias trading threats and counter-messaging in real time.