WorthyNews: Hamas Rebuilding Despite Israeli Attacks (Worthy News Analyse)

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By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

GAZA CITY/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Hamas is rapidly rebuilding “its terror infrastructure” in the Gaza Strip, exploiting humanitarian aid and convincing young Gazans to join its ranks, Israeli and U.S. sources said Tuesday.

Under the leadership of Mohammed Sinwar, the younger brother of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Hamas is reportedly regrouping after significant losses inflicted by Israel.

The past two weeks alone saw Hamas fire about 20 rockets into Israel, following a period of relative calm.

Additionally, 10 Israeli soldiers were killed in fierce battles near Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza as Hamas continues its attacks, according to Israeli sources familiar with the situation.

Hamas has reportedly been rearming itself with improvised explosives fashioned from unexploded ordnance ahead of an expected temporary ceasefire agreement.

Israel also says Hamas has long smuggled weapons into Gaza through tunnels and that it must control the area to prevent Hamas from rebuilding.

Egypt, a key mediator, says it blocked the tunnels years ago and is opposed to any Israeli presence on the Gaza side of its border.

MASTERING URBAN FIGHTING

Despite Israel’s actions and insistence on controlling the region, sources familiar with Hamas thinking say its armed personnel are guerrilla fighters who have mastered urban fighting.

The Hamas fighters still use tunnels in Gaza to hide from Israeli forces while also launching ambushes from these locations, Worthy News learned.

“The Israeli military cannot dismantle such a decentralized guerrilla armed group by simply seizing their “central command,” as it probably doesn’t even have one. History has taught us that no matter how many leaders are killed, others will take their reins,” commented Khalil Sayegh, a Washingon DC-based political analyst focused on Palestinian politics and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“The current Israeli policy of attacking a specific area to dismantle Hamas and then withdraw to the sounding area is delusional,” he argued for the Al-Monitor news service. “Only through allowing for the emergence of a new national Palestinian government that the Palestinian people see as legitimate, while also ensuring that Hamas does not continue to present a threat, can Israel ever succeed at eradicating Hamas,” he stressed.

Retired Israeli Brigadier General Amir Avivi also warned that the pace of Hamas’s rebuilding efforts is outstripping Israel’s ability to dismantle them entirely. “We are in a situation where the pace at which Hamas is rebuilding itself is higher than the pace that the [Israel Defense Forces are] eradicating them,” Avivi told The Wall Street Journal newspaper.

Much will depend on Hamas’ defacto leader, Mohammed Sinwar. Unlike his older brother Yahya, who Israel says masterminded the October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel of some 1,200 people and was subsequently eliminated by the Israeli military, Mohammed has avoided prolonged incarceration in Israeli prisons.

This makes him “a more enigmatic and unpredictable adversary” for Israeli security forces as less valuable information about him is available, suggest Israeli commentators.

TOUGH BRIGADE

Sinwar’s role in Hamas extends back to his command of the Khan Yunis Brigade, which played a pivotal part in Hamas’s terror operations, Israeli sources say.

He was reportedly instrumental in the 2006 kidnapping of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit and worked to secure Yahya Sinwar’s release in the 2011 prisoner exchange deal.

Since his brother’s death, Mohammed has consolidated power in Gaza, sidelining Hamas’s attempts to establish a collective leadership.

Israeli officials have named him, alongside Izz al-Din Haddad, Hamas’s military leader in northern Gaza, as “the current top commander of the terror group.”

An Israeli official from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Southern Command reportedly confirmed efforts to locate and neutralize Mohammed Sinwar are underway. “We are working hard to find him,” the official stated.

It was unclear what impact ongoing ceasefire talks would have on these efforts.

However, despite Hamas reportedly regrouping after tens of thousands of fighters were killed and injured, Sayegh saw some hope for Israel.

“It is true that Hamas today is undoubtedly much weaker than it was before the war and that. Even if it survived the Israeli assault, it might not survive the anger of Gazans after the war,” he said.

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