After three years of hard fighting in Gaza, how many troops does Hamas have left?

China News Service, October 10 (Reporter Diao Wei) It has been three years since the outbreak of a new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Although the Hamas armed forces, which rely on the Gaza Strip as their main base, have suffered serious losses from the continuous attacks by Israel, the outside world generally believes that they still have strong military strength.

Hamas armed personnel conduct crawling obstacle course training. Photo/"Jerusalem Post"

According to Reuters, the Israeli army currently occupies 63% of Gaza's land, while other areas are under the actual control of Hamas. Most of the approximately 2 million Gaza residents are also concentrated in Hamas-controlled areas.

Some people say that this news detail shows that Israel's military occupation has not been transformed into effective control of the population and situation. Hamas's influence on public support and civil governance cannot be underestimated.

A report from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy stated that in the one year since the ceasefire, 500 to 600 trucks carrying humanitarian supplies have entered Gaza every day. Hamas can earn tens of millions of dollars every month by charging trucks, reselling supplies and private taxes.

Israel's "New News" stated that a large part of these funds were used by Hamas to recruit and train new members. According to the US intelligence agency, the former may have recruited 10,000 to 15,000 new armed personnel.

According to data from King's College London, Hamas currently has about 20,000 armed forces, one-third of whom have actual combat experience, and its most elite "Nuhba" commando force is estimated to have about 2,500 people.

The website of Deutsche Welle Radio pointed out that although the Israeli army has seized and destroyed a large number of Hamas weapons and equipment, the latter still possesses more than 10,000 light weapons and a small number of long-range rockets, and can make homemade landmines, bombs and other explosives.

Foreign media analysis believes that since most of the senior leadership has been eliminated and all heavy weapons have been lost, Hamas's armed forces are now becoming more decentralized, and guerrilla warfare in small groups and even individual fights have become the norm.

For example, on September 28 and October 2, the Israeli military dispatched fighter planes to carry out air strikes on two Hamas snipers whose whereabouts were exposed. In early October, Hamas armed forces detonated roadside bombs and attacked an Israeli engineering vehicle.

Foreign media also quoted the Israeli military as saying that there are still hundreds of kilometers of Hamas secret tunnels hidden under Gaza, and it may take several years for the Israeli military to find them and destroy them all.

In addition to the Gaza Strip, Hamas has also stepped up its activities in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, especially increasing its propaganda efforts to call on Palestinians to rise up and resist.

According to Al Jazeera, on September 23, a 29-year-old Palestinian youth drove his car into an Israeli military post in the West Bank, seriously injuring an Israeli reservist.

Foreign media said that after investigation, the injured Israeli soldier was the son of the current Israeli ambassador to the United States, and the Palestinian young man who was shot and killed after carrying out the attack could not be ruled out as a supporter of Hamas.

Perhaps as the BBC said, Israel cannot completely eradicate Hamas, and weakening the armed forces as much as possible is the greatest victory it can achieve. (over)