Hamas militiamen were out in strength in the Gaza Strip yesterday, asserting their authority over the Palestinian enclave after a bloody showdown with a rival Islamist splinter group aligned with al Qaeda.
In the southern town of Rafah, by the border with Egypt, residents sifted through the rubble of apartment buildings blown up during hours of fighting on Friday and Saturday that left up to 28 dead and a mosque ravaged by bullets and grenades.
Neighbours who knew Abdel-Latif Moussa, whose declaration of Islamic rule from the mosque on Friday triggered the onslaught by fellow Islamists from Hamas, recalled a gentle, devout man.
Many bemoaned the bloodiest violence among Palestinians since 2007. Some forecast reprisals by more young men, some of them former Hamas fighters now disillusioned by its attempts to reach out to the West and negotiate an end to Gaza's isolation. In a statement on a web site used by al Qaeda-allied groups from Gaza, a shadowy figure using the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Maqdessi made clear there was anger against Hamas: "The slaughterer in Gaza is Hamas. It is the one holding the knife."
But Hamas, which ousted Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his forces from the Israeli-blockaded coastal strip two years ago, insisted the chapter was closed with the death of the physician-preacher who led the "Warriors of God".
"The situation in the Gaza Strip is fully under control," Hamas Interior Ministry spokesman Ehab al-Ghsain said.
Blue-uniformed policemen manned roadblocks and checked cars. Fighters from Hamas's military wing, in facemasks and green Islamic headbands, veterans of January's war with Israel, kept watch discreetly on their fellow Palestinians as residents cleaned up around the devastated Ibn Taymea mosque in Rafah.
Mr Ghsain dismissed chatter on the Internet about Palestinians being warned to steer clear of Hamas police stations for fear of suicide attacks by Mr Moussa's followers. Security forces were tracking down "some individuals", Mr Ghsain said. Hamas would also aim to "re-educate" those who strayed from "moderate Islam".
"They represent no security threat," Mr Ghsain insisted.
Though the numbers involved in Mr Moussa's Jund Ansar Allah (Warriors of God) and other secretive groups, such as the Army of Islam, are hard to gauge, analysts tend to agree they are limited in terms of men under arms, possibly in the hundreds.
Their influence, however, is significant, analysts say.
By tapping into widespread frustration with the economic hardships and Israeli attacks seen under Hamas rule, along with appealing to traditionalist ideas, they can attract some Hamas supporters and put a brake on Hamas efforts to reach out, both to its secular rivals Fatah in the West Bank and to the West.