Hamas strikes at Gaza clan that challenged its authority

GAZA CITY - Eleven members of a large Palestinian clan, including a 1-year-old, were killed along with a Hamas police officer late Monday and early yesterday, when Hamas forces clashed with gunmen at the family's compound here, witnesses said.

The assault on the powerful Dagmush clan, notorious for both militant and criminal activity, signaled an apex in the campaign by Hamas, the Islamist group that rules Gaza, to impose internal order, and it was welcomed by many people here. The Dagmush family was considered the last large clan challenging Hamas's authority in Gaza, after Hamas cracked down in early August on the Hillis clan, which is loyal to Hamas's rival, Fatah.

Earlier Monday, a member of the Dagmush clan fatally shot a Hamas police officer while resisting arrest in the old market area of Gaza City, prompting a Hamas raid on the clan's compound in the city's Sabra neighborhood.

In the firefight, the second officer and the 11 clan members were killed, and about 45 Dagmush members were wounded, including several women who were shot in the knees by Hamas forces, relatives said. Witnesses added that Hamas had confiscated three truckloads of weapons from the compound, and that its forces were in control of the area and searching for more arms.

Although hundreds of potential fighters from the clan remain at large, Hamas is believed to have dealt it a severe blow. Mumtaz Dagmush, who leads the Army of Islam, a militia in Gaza inspired by Al Qaeda, was said to be badly wounded and receiving treatment within the family compound. The Army of Islam kidnapped the BBC reporter Alan Johnston; he was released in July 2007 after 16 weeks in captivity.

Together with Hamas and the Popular Resistance Committees, a militia sponsored by another branch of the Dagmush family, the Army of Islam also took responsibility for capturing an Israeli soldier, Corporal Gilad Shalit, in a cross-border raid in 2006. Hamas is still holding Shalit and wants to exchange him for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, including many convicted of terrorist attacks.

The Army of Islam has been blamed for attacks in Gaza on Internet cafes and other Western-style places of entertainment.