Yedioth Ahronoth: Hamas shows no sign of surrender in the Gaza Strip

Israeli analyst Avi Issacharoff said that Hamas isn’t showing any sign of surrender, explaining that it has learned to turn to guerrilla warfare in the Gaza Strip.

Issacharoff wrote in Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper on Thursday, that the Israeli army forces, the 162nd Division, are operating in the northern Gaza Strip, including the Jabaliya refugee camp, in an attempt to destroy Hamas’s infrastructure there.

According to Issacharoff, the big problem is that in order to do that you have to hit every house that has a suspected tunnel or hostile activity, and in almost every house you can find both.

“This area looks like it has been through a disaster… There are no people on the streets, and even the stray dogs are barely left here because they know there is no food left… The destruction is massive, and when you patrol with the IDF in the Strip you can also understand why”.

Issacharoff quoted statements by the commander of the Kfir Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Yaniv Barot, who has been active in the northern Gaza Strip for the past two months, in which he said, “During this period, army forces in the area uncovered 7.5 kilometers of tunnels, where a complex of tunnels is operating from each neighborhood, and the soldiers’ mission is to reach this underground infrastructure and destroy it”.

“House after house, neighborhood after neighborhood, it’s exhausting and dangerous work that has taken a heavy toll,” he added.

“We lost 12 soldiers here, which is a heavy price, and the most important challenge is to maintain resilience after such an event”.

“Just a few weeks ago, a force of 12 soldiers from our Samson Battalion went into action and intercepted an RPG, killing four fighters on the spot,” Barot continued.

In October 2024, the Israeli army launched a large-scale military operation in the Jabaliya area, during which tens of thousands of Palestinians were displaced from their homes, many buildings were destroyed, and thousands of Palestinians were killed and wounded.

Palestinians say that Israel is working to occupy the area and turn it into a buffer zone and displace them under the pressure of bloody bombing and a tight siege that deprives them of food, water and medicine.

According to Issacharoff, the good news is that the young soldiers are defeating the enemy, at least on the battlefield.

Issacharoff said, “Hamas no longer operates as a military framework as it did in the past”.

“But the bad news is that it is difficult to see the end of this event,” adding, “it will take months of fighting to finish clearing the northern Gaza Strip alone… Secondly, this has a heavy price in terms of casualties of soldiers, and thirdly, Hamas shows no sign of giving up”.

He explained that even in the northern cities of the Gaza Strip, attempts to launch rockets at Israel continue, and attempts to attack soldiers using small groups of 3 to 4 gunmen, or perhaps less.

“There is no clear hierarchy of command in Hamas, and there is no exceptional military commander, but Hamas has learned to turn to guerrilla warfare in everything, within a devastated area, and this is the area where the Israeli army is fighting with much larger forces,” Issacharoff said.

“Moreover, in other areas where the IDF isn’t operating on the ground, Hamas is regaining civilian and military control,” he added.

“Thus, about two kilometers south of here (north of Gaza), in Gaza City itself, the organization has effectively rebuilt its governmental capabilities and military leadership”.

He continued, “The commander of the Gaza Brigade (in Hamas), Izz al Din Haddad, continues his work in Gaza City and is managing the military operation in the city from there”.

“Even in other areas where the IDF isn’t active, such as the refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip, Mawasi, in the south and Deir al Balah, at the center of the strip, Hamas is restoring its capabilities and proving its ability to govern, even though the rate of damage it has suffered is impressive,” Issacharoff said.

He added, “As long as there is no alternative to rule in Gaza, Hamas will continue to restore its capabilities wherever the Israeli army doesn’t operate”.

The analyst considered that the major problem for the State of Israel is that although Hamas will continue to receive military strikes, time after time, but in the absence of a real attempt to establish an alternative ruler for it, the organization will succeed in rehabilitating itself again and again.