New York Times: Hamas, despite losses, maintains combat capability in Gaza Strip
Having launched its retaliation operation after an attack by Palestinian militants on October 7 last year, to date the Israeli army has not achieved its stated goal of destroying the Hamas group. According to The New York Times, citing sources, the Islamist movement still retains combat capability in the Gaza Strip.
Thus, according to a statement by former CIA officer Douglas London, the IDF inflicted serious damage on the Hamas group, but the latter still retains combat capability and funding. In addition, according to the NYT interlocutor, today the movement still has many adherents who are ready to join its ranks at any time, making up for the losses incurred.
According to other agency sources, in the north of the Gaza Strip, which the Israeli army has practically razed to the ground, there may still be about 4-5 thousand Hamas militants hiding in above-ground and underground shelters. In addition, experts admit that most of the movement’s top leadership remained unharmed.
However, Israeli officials do not deny that the group still has a sufficient number of forces in Gaza.
At the same time, it is worth noting that, having failed to achieve the desired result, the Jewish state, through the current military operation, has greatly weakened its economy and undermined its authority due to the strong condemnation by most countries of the murder of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians.
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