Haaretz: Hamas Still Has 40,000 Fighters

Top Israeli military commanders say that power of Hamas has not diminished confirming that the military of their movement’s armed wing, the Izz Aldin Al Qassam Brigades, still has around 40,000 fighters.

This is a new assessment published by the Hebrew daily, Haaretz. It says that the Israeli commanders conclude in a detailed military assessment that the military manpower of Hamas, at 40,000 fighters, remain as they were before 7 October, 2023 when the war on Gaza was launched.

Despite the bloody war and mass destruction of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military leaders still believe Hamas still possesses a number of long-range rockets and hundreds and perhaps thousands, of short-range shells and mortar shells.

Relaying on the same Israeli military sources, the newspaper states that it has been told that future Israeli operations will be carried out in areas where the captives – 59 and 22 still still alive – are likely to be held. However, it added these operations will be conducted in direct coordination with the Israeli Prisoners and Missing Persons Authority to ensure risk reduction. This is while the Israeli sources say that plans are underway to evacuate hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to pre-determined gathering areas, most notably to Al-Mawasi, which currently houses approximately 700,000 displaced persons.

Until the new Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir assumed his post last March, the military believed Hamas no longer possessed an organized military structure. However, the new assessment indicates that the movement retains effective operational capabilities, despite having suffered heavy blows.

Israeli military officials said that the fighting has changed since then, with the adoption of “massive fire” tactics and the systematic destruction of Hamas’s military infrastructure, including tunnels.

Further, Israeli military intelligence are of the view that the local protests against Hamas in the Gaza Strip is too small and doesn’t constitute a “civilian uprising” and where the Islamist movement continues to enjoy mass support.

According to the Israeli newspaper however, an estimated one-third of Gaza’s population remains loyal to Hamas, another third belongs to Fatah, and the remainder is unaffiliated with any faction.