The IDF says it has “dismantled” 20 of the original 24 Hamas battalions in Gaza, but its remaining fighters are still capable of waging a lethal insurgency.
JERUSALEM — Israeli military briefers show journalists a map of Gaza in the colors red, yellow and green. The map does not show the rubble, suffering or death. But it does illustrate the case made by the Israel Defense Forces that it is steadily winning its battles — if not yet the war — against
Far fewer Israeli soldiers are dying. More than 100 Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza in December; 11 troops have died so far in March.The IDF would not reveal the exact number of troops in Gaza today, but confirmed that there are currently members of just two divisions in the strip, down from five divisions at the war’s peak — which would equal a force reduction of at least 60 percent.
“The Israeli army has taken control of all areas of Gaza City and the cities of the north, and its return now to the various areas is considered very easy, compared to the first weeks of the war and the ground invasion,” said Mahmoud Bassal, spokesman for Gaza’s Civil Defense.Hamas fighters, who once carried out coordinated resistance, are now more likely to conduct guerrilla hit-and-run strikes with smaller two-to-four man units, military officials said, or with a lone sniper.
The IDF claims that its forces have killed 11,500 to 13,000 Palestinian militants; it believes a few thousand other operatives might have “gone home,” or left the fight. Others, officials say, are buried in the rubble and in the tunnels. “The rest of the top leaders are in hiding, likely deep in the Hamas tunnel network,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said at the time.
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