US intelligence agencies estimate that the death toll among Hamas fighters from Israel’s ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip falls short of the regime’s goal of eliminating the Palestinian resistance group.
In a classified report, the spy agencies highlighted Hamas’ resilience over the past months, saying the Israeli war has killed 20 to 30 percent of members of the resistance movement, the Wall Street Journal says.
“Hamas still has enough munitions to continue striking Israel and Israeli forces in Gaza for months, and that the group is attempting to reconstitute its police force in parts of Gaza City,” said US officials who confirmed the report.
Israeli officials have conceded that they have not achieved their goal of obliterating Hamas despite killing thousands of civilians in the aggressive air and ground campaign on Gaza, the report added.
It also cited military analysts as referring to adjusted tactics by Hamas fighters, saying they are operating in smaller groups and hiding between ambushes on Israeli troops, while individual fighters are likely taking on more tasks to pick up the slack from their martyred comrades.
Israel waged the genocidal war on besieged Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Storm in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.