Two fighters from the Al-Qassam Brigades (Al-Qassam official website)

Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper quoted Israeli security estimates that there are still between 4 and 6 thousand Hamas fighters in the central and northern Gaza Strip.

Israeli estimates warned that the reduction of forces in Gaza and the absence of a force to fill the vacuum would lead to renewed Hamas military and administrative control over the Strip.

Last February, Haaretz newspaper reported from Israeli military, media and political sources that reports had increased in recent days about renewed fighting in Gaza City and the northern areas of the Strip, indicating that Hamas and the rest of the Palestinian factions had renewed their ability to move in those areas.

The newspaper added that Hamas is trying to escalate the fighting in these areas, which Israel claims to have tightened control over, so that the movement can demonstrate its organizational and operational capabilities, and at the same time reduce Israeli military pressure on the southern Gaza Strip.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, revealed in a video dated “March 7 this year” a new launcher bearing the names of the martyrs “Khairy Alqam” and “Uday Al-Tamimi.”

Military expert Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi confirmed to Al-Jazeera that what appeared in the video indicates that it may be a simulation of a 122 mm Katyusha missile, meaning that its range reaches 14 kilometers, which means that all settlements surrounding Gaza will be within its range.

The launcher carries 8 missiles, and it may be one of the achievements of the current battle, according to Al-Duwairi, who suggested that it was made through reverse engineering.

He believes that the unveiling of the new weapon at this time, after 5 months of war, means that Al-Qassam is still managing the battle and controlling the command system, and that it has something to offer after this period of fighting.

Missile power

In early February, the Occupation Army Radio said that the Israeli forces are still far from achieving their goal of eliminating the missile capabilities of the Hamas movement, stressing that this mission requires, according to estimates, between one and two years.

The radio reported that many of the rocket launching pads in the Gaza Strip are buried underground, which makes it difficult for Israeli forces to find them.

She added that estimates indicate that Hamas still has about 1,000 rockets so far, most of which are in platforms buried underground.

Researchers at the Israeli Military Intelligence Division said last February that Hamas is capable of surviving as an armed organization capable of waging a guerrilla war.

They explained in their report that the occupation army may succeed in eliminating the movement as a ruling system, but it will not be able to end its existence as an armed organization, according to what Israeli Channel 12 reported last month.

The channel said that the head of the research department in the Israeli Military Intelligence Division presented these findings in the occupation army to officials in the Israeli occupation government, in a warning message that the Hamas movement still enjoys real support despite the devastating war on Gaza.

Recently, there has been talk in Western and Hebrew media that the Israeli occupation is unable to defeat or eliminate Hamas militarily, and they considered this to be an unrealistic idea.

Since last October 7, Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip that has left tens of thousands of martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, in addition to an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe and a noticeable deterioration in infrastructure and property, according to Palestinian and UN data, which led to Israel appearing before the International Court of Justice on charges of genocide.

Source: Al Jazeera + Israeli press + websites