However, it is likely the incident took place after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect, as Israeli troops were operating in the area before that. War-time damage to the buildings seen in the video suggests it has been filmed recently.

The detainees — all of whom appear to be adult men — are seen being dragged into the square, hands tied behind their backs. Some have been partially stripped and are barefooted.

Some of the fighters are seen forcefully hitting some of the prisoners as they are lined up to be executed. The fighters cheer after shooting the detainees.

Palestinian factions and human rights groups condemned the executions.

The office of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued a statement condemning the killings, calling them “heinous crimes” and “a blatant violation of human rights.”

The Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR), the Palestinian national human rights watchdog, said the “acts constitute grave legal and moral crimes that require urgent condemnation and accountability.”

But Palestinian Resistance Factions, a lose alliance of Hamas and Hamas-allied groups including Palestinian Islamic Jihad, commended what it called a “security campaign being carried out by the Ministry of Interior and National Security in Gaza to enforce the law and pursue those who violate it, including collaborators, mercenaries, thieves, bandits, and those cooperating with the Zionist enemy throughout the Gaza Strip.”

Accusations of collaboration

The Hamas-affiliated security force Radaa said in the statement that it “conducted a precise operation in the center of Gaza City, resulting in the neutralization of several wanted individuals and outlaws.”

A statement posted on a Hamas-affiliated Telegram channel on Wednesday that the executions were carried out “after the completion of all legal and judicial procedures” – a claim that was widely disputed.

It said the detainees were collaborating with Israel or were involved in security and criminal offences, but it did not provide any evidence.

Radaa said that it has taken control of positions in Gaza City and “conducted sweeps and arrests of individuals who participated in shootings, the killing of displaced persons, and attacks on civilians.”

In another statement on Wednesday, Radaa said it “has been conducting a comprehensive security operation across all areas of the Strip for several days, targeting those involved in collaboration with the occupation and its mercenaries and anyone who shelters them.”

CNN cannot independently confirm the identity of the fighters or the prisoners, but the video surfaced after days of reported clashes between Hamas fighters and the Doghmush family, a powerful clan based in al Sabra.

CNN previously reported that Hamas-affiliated Telegram channels said the violence started after a son of a senior Hamas military commander was killed.

The Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, a Palestinian NGO, said it received reports that gunmen clashed with armed men from a local family in the Sabra and Tel al-Hawa neighborhoods in Gaza City after the ceasefire came into effect on Friday.

It said that according to the information it gathered, the attackers claimed they were trying to arrest a group of suspects.

“The clashes resulted in casualties among both the family members and the attacking force. After the arrest of several family members, the video showing the execution of several citizens was circulated widely on social media,” the center said, adding that no official statement from local authorities was released about the incident.

Radaa said in a statement on Monday that it was carrying “wide-ranging security operations resulting in the arrest of a large number of collaborators and individuals operating outside the law.”

In the statement, Radaa said it arrested a group of “lawless elements” who fired at security forces in central Gaza, and that it detained a number of people “implicated in cooperating with an armed militia and recruiting collaborators during the war” in southern Gaza.

A statement from the Doghmush Family said that it was “shocked by a distressing internal campaign targeting our innocent sons, involving killing, intimidation, torture, and burning of homes with their residents inside, without any justification and under false pretexts that bear no relation to reality.”

The family said that it lost some 600 members during this war and that the Israeli military launched a brutal campaign against the family after it “firmly and completely rejected all attempts by the occupation to win it over or recruit it to work on its behalf.”

“What is happening today is a heinous crime committed against a family known for its steadfastness, resolve, and rejection of all forms of collaboration and treachery,” the family said.

The family said on Wednesday that at least 28 of its members were killed by Hamas after being granted safety assurances to surrender themselves.

The video of the executions was widely shared online, including by the Israeli Foreign Ministry, which said the footage showed why Hamas “must go.”

The video surfaced after US President Donald Trump suggested that he gave an approval to Hamas to police the territory for “a period of time.”

Trump was asked about Hamas reasserting itself in Gaza following the ceasefire he helped to broker between the group and Israel as he was traveling to the Middle East on Monday.

“They do want to stop the problems. They’ve been open about it and we gave them approval for a period of time,” Trump said in response.

Israel has been pushing hard for the complete disarmament of Hamas to be included in the ceasefire agreement.