On adventures ending – Iyad Abuheweila, Aaron Boxerman and Sanjana Varghese in NYT:

‘The public execution was captured on video.
Masked gunmen, some wearing green headbands associated with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, lined up eight captives in the middle of a crowded street in Gaza City on Monday. They forced the men to bend over, leveled their rifles at them, and opened fire, leaving their bodies in the dirt.
A Hamas internal security official confirmed that the video, which The New York Times geolocated to Gaza City, showed Hamas fighters executing Palestinian rivals. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to journalists.
The execution took place just days after a cease-fire with Israel began on Friday and Israeli forces pulled back from parts of Gaza. Analysts say that Hamas appears to be trying to assert that it is still the dominant force in the territory, no matter how weakened it is after two years of war with Israel.’

(…)

‘After a visit to Israel on Monday coinciding with Hamas’s release of the remaining hostages in Gaza, Mr. Trump was asked by a reporter about the possibility of the group reasserting itself as a police force in Gaza and shooting rivals. Mr. Trump suggested the United States was not opposed, at least for now.
“They’ve been open about it, and we gave them approval for a period of time,” he said.
On Tuesday, Mr. Trump addressed the issue again, saying Hamas had “taken out a couple of gangs that were very bad,” and adding: “That didn’t bother me very much, to be honest.”’

(…)

‘After the clashes, armed Hamas fighters burst into nearby houses, checking identity cards to see who belonged to the Doghmosh family, said a Palestinian witness who asked not to be named for fear of retribution. He said his family spent hours huddled in the center of their home amid a hail of gunfire and explosions outside.
Then Hamas fighters showed up and ordered them to flee, he recounted.
At least 24 bodies arrived at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City from the Hamas-Doghmosh clashes on Sunday night, said Mohammad Abu Salmiya, the medical facility’s director. He said he did not know how many were from each side.’ (…)

‘“This adventure was only ever going to end one way,” said Michael Milshtein, a former senior Israeli intelligence officer. “We armed and supported these militias, and now Hamas is coming for its revenge.” If Hamas attacks any of the clans affiliated with Israel, it would pose a “heavy dilemma” for the Israeli authorities, who would have to decide whether to defend them — thus breaking the cease-fire — or allow them to be killed or arrested, Mr. Milshtein said.
For now, at least some militia members say they have no plans to surrender to Hamas.
“We are preparing to defend ourselves by any means necessary should Hamas attack,” said Mohammad al-Mansi, 21, whose father leads a small armed group opposed to Hamas in northern Gaza.’

Read the article here.

See also South Lebanon, after the departure of Israeli troops in 2000.

Hamas, after some fighting I assume, will reestablish itself as the main force in Gaza. I don’t see any international force coming into that territory.

And Trump will be distracted soon, the next theater after all seems to be Venezuela.