Maariv: Hamas maintains its strength and doesn’t engage in direct combat with the Israeli army
On Wednesday, Israeli Maariv newspaper reported on that Hamas is maintaining its strength and isn’t engaging in direct combat with the Israeli army.
The Israeli newspaper quoted a senior Israeli military source on Wednesday evening as saying that Hamas isn’t attempting to engage in direct combat with the Israeli army in order to maintain its military strength in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military source, who wasn’t identified by the newspaper, explained that Israel hasn’t yet succeeded in resolving the battle against Hamas, and we haven’t defeated it or recovered the kidnapped soldiers.
The same source indicated that Hamas is preparing for a major maneuver and is focusing on planting explosive devices in various areas of the Gaza Strip.
Israel resumed its bombing of the Gaza Strip on March 18, following a hiatus of approximately two months.
This hiatus had been in place since the ceasefire agreement with Hamas came into effect on January 19, following the failure of talks to extend the first phase of the agreement or move to the second phase.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had instructed the Israeli military to take strong action against Hamas, in response to its refusal to release the hostages and its rejection of all ceasefire proposals.
In contrast, Hamas held Netanyahu and his government fully responsible for reversing the ceasefire agreement and exposing prisoners in Gaza to an unknown fate.
The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was supposed to continue once the first phase, which ended on March 1, was extended or the second phase entered its second phase.
However, disagreements between Israel and Hamas regarding the next steps prevented this from happening.
