Hamas launches crackdown as Trump vows to disarm group

'IF THEY DON'T DISARM, WE WILL DISARM THEM... PERHAPS VIOLENTLY'

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Freed Gaza Palestinian prisoners carry rifles as they arrive in the Gaza Strip.

(AP)

Hamas tightened its grip on Gaza's ruined cities Tuesday, launching a crackdown and executing alleged collaborators, even as US President Donald Trump vowed to disarm the group.

The Israeli military said the remains of four more hostages held in Gaza had been brought into Israel, a day after Hamas handed over the bodies of four other captives and released the last 20 surviving hostages.

In the north of the territory, as Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza City, the Hamas government's black-masked armed police have resumed street patrols.

When busloads of prisoners freed from Israeli jails arrived in Gaza on Monday, militants from Hamas's Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades provided crowd control.

A Palestinian security source in Gaza told AFP that Hamas's security body, a recently established unit whose name translates as "Deterrence Force", was conducting "ongoing field operations to ensure security and stability".

"Our message is clear: There will be no place for outlaws or those who threaten the security of citizens," he said.