Hamas influencer Saleh Aljafarawi, known as ‘Mr. FAFO’, killed in Gaza
According to Gazan reports, Aljafarawi — one of the most prominent pro-Hamas voices online in the Gaza Strip — was found shot in the head.
Saleh Aljafarawi, a well-known social media influencer affiliated with Hamas known as “Mr. FAFO”, was killed by an anti-Hamas militia in the Sabra neighborhood in southern Gaza City, Hamas’s Al-Aqsa TV confirmed on Sunday.
According to reports, Aljafarawi — one of the most prominent pro-Hamas voices online in the Gaza Strip — was found shot in the head.
Saleh Aljafarawi’s body lies in the Gaza Strip. (credit: SECTION 27A COPYRIGHT ACT)
The influencer had gained global attention for his viral videos from Gaza, frequently appearing in clips even after being falsely reported dead. On several occasions, he filmed himself from hospital beds after reportedly surviving attacks.
Additional reports from the Gaza Strip said that the son of Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas official in the group’s political bureau, was also killed during violent clashes with the Doghmush clan in Gaza City.
Bassem Naim’s son, who was allegedly killed in the clashes with the Doghmush clan. (credit: SECTION 27A COPYRIGHT ACT)
A senior source in Hamas’s Interior Ministry told the Qatari-owned Al Jazeera that members of Hamas’s internal security forces were killed following an attack by a local armed militia in Gaza City.
Hamas was attempting to arrest militia members
The source said Hamas security forces were currently besieging members of the militia with the goal of “arresting them.”
The source further claimed the militia had killed Gazan refugees returning to Gaza City from the southern part of the Strip. It emphasized that the security apparatus in Gaza was “determined to impose order and punish those responsible for the killings.”
The escalation between Hamas and the Doghmush clan reportedly began when members of the clan ambushed several Hamas operatives near the Jordanian Hospital in Gaza City this past Friday, shortly after a ceasefire went into effect.
According to reports, the ambush led to the killing of Muhammad Imad Akl, a member of Hamas’s military wing and the son of a senior operative who participated in the October 7 massacre.
Earlier in the day, additional clashes were reported in the Rafah area in southern Gaza, amid exchanges of fire between militias and Hamas operatives.
Reports also emerged of summary executions carried out by Hamas against members of the Doghmush clan in Sabra, including claims that children from the clan were also targeted by gunfire.
Sources in the IDF’s Southern Command confirmed that fighting had broken out between armed militias in Rafah and Hamas operatives who had returned to the area — until recently under Israeli military control — to “settle scores.”
Simultaneously, defense officials expressed serious concern over how quickly Hamas has reasserted itself in Gaza and resumed acts of violence, both against civilians and against armed factions that have defied its rule.
In off-record conversations, officials in Israel’s defense establishment have reportedly urged the political leadership to make clear decisions regarding how to respond to such scenarios.
During the height of the war, when news emerged of coordination between Israeli security forces and armed clans opposed to Hamas — with political approval — it sparked domestic controversy in Israel.
Over time, however, these armed clans, whose primary goal has been protecting their own family strongholds, proved increasingly effective in limiting Hamas’s operational reach across Gaza, thus posing a growing threat to the group’s rule.
The initiative to build ties with thousands of these armed clan members began within the Shin Bet’s southern division and was spearheaded by “S.” — the deputy to the outgoing Shin Bet chief and currently the agency’s deputy head.
