At least 27 people have been killed in fierce clashes between Hamas security forces and armed members of the Dughmush family in Gaza City, in one of the most violent internal confrontations since the end of major Israeli operations in the enclave, BBC reported.

Masked Hamas gunmen exchanged fire with clan fighters near the city's Jordanian hospital, witnesses said.

A senior official in the Hamas-run interior ministry said security units surrounded them and engaged in heavy fighting to detain them. The ministry said eight its members were killed in "an armed assault by a militia".

Medical sources said 19 Dughmush clan members and eight Hamas fighters had been killed since fighting began on Saturday, according to BBC.