The Israeli military believes that it will take all of 2024, or even longer, to eliminate the Hamas threat, Bloomberg reports, citing an intelligence officer, UNN writes.
Details
The intelligence officer said that Israel is still many months away from achieving its goals, which include capturing or destroying ammunition and weapons, as well as disabling Hamas military bases and tunnels. According to him, this will take all of 2024, and possibly longer.
He said that about 9,000 Hamas fighters out of an estimated 35,000-strong army had been killed. On Monday, Defense Minister Yoav Galant told the soldiers something similar, saying: "A quarter of Hamas terrorists have been killed and at least another quarter wounded.
An Israeli military intelligence officer also reported that out of five Hamas combat brigades, Israeli forces eliminated or captured most of the commanders of two of them, both based in northern Gaza.
However, he said, the command structure of the two brigades, one in central Gaza and the other in the southern city of Rafah, is still intact. Each brigade is led by between 70 and 150 commanders, and their elimination or capture is vital to the dismantling of these units, he added.
The Israeli military claims to be fighting the fiercest battles in Gaza in the southern city of Khan Younis. As noted, it is strategically important because it is where Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and military chief Mohammed Deif are from and where Israel believes they are hiding.
Four months later, as noted, the fighting in the Gaza Strip has been fiercer than many Israeli military officials expected. About 220 Israeli soldiers have been killed. But leaders insist they have made significant progress.
According to Hamas, more than 26,000 people have been killed in the war in Gaza so far, the vast majority of whom are women and children. It is impossible to independently verify any of these numbers, the newspaper points out.
WSJ: Ізраїль зруйнував 20% тунелів ХАМАСу під Сектором Гази29.01.24, 04:47