Israeli officials told the New York Times on Monday that in the north of the Gaza Strip, where the IDF has waged intense and difficult fighting, there are still 4,000-5,000 armed Hamas terrorists left.
US officials have said that it is likely that Hamas will not be completely destroyed by military activity. Still, the pace of rebuilding its strength depends on the next steps that Israel will take after the fighting.
The Times report, however, states that most Hamas battalions have been "degraded and are scattered" with thousands of terrorists from the Islamist group having been killed, but notes that Israel has not achieved what it states are its two main objectives in the war: destroying Hamas and freeing the hostages.
Eventual Rafah fight
Both the IDF and Hamas are bracing themselves for Israel's eventual incursion into Rafah, which holds "Hamas’s last stronghold that Israel has not invaded," the report said. The IDF believes that eliminating the terror organization's remaining battalions there requires a ground incursion. Israeli security experts state another goal would be to destroy tunnels between Gaza and Egypt that supply Hamas with weapons, the Times reported.
Current and former US officials told the Times that the terrorist organization's leadership remains "in place" and settled in an underground network of tunnels and operation centers. The officials also said that this allows Hamas leaders "to survive and reconstitute once the fighting stops."
Retired CIA officer Douglas London was quoted by the Times saying that Hamas "still has capability, resilience, funding and a long line of people most likely waiting to sign up and join after all the fighting and all the destruction and all the loss of life.”
US intelligence has also said that Hamas will likely remain a force in Gaza when the fighting is over, and that rebuilding its own combat power would take time.