The source emphasized that there has been a notable decline in the quality of its forces.
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
As the IDF has returned to northern Gaza to battle Hamas, Israel’s military admits that many of the terrorists they are fighting are new recruits.
The aim of the renewed campaign in northern Gaza is to eliminate terrorist infrastructure.
Galai Tzahal (IDF Radio) military correspondent Doron Kadosh reported that many of the Hamas terrorists soldiers are fighting against have been recruited since the war.
Officers said the goal of the current operation is to destroy Hamas’s infrastructure to make additional missions unnecessary.
Kadosh said, “We are undertaking actions that were not part of previous operations. We are advancing into areas where the IDF will not need to return. This is not a raid; it is a full-scale operation aimed at completely dismantling the enemy and its infrastructure.”
He added that although a large number of the terrorists are “veteran” Hamas members, many have been enlisted recently.
The Hamas terror organization has replaced a significant portion of its forces lost in combat with Israel since October 7, according to reports by Israeli media outlets.
According to estimates from the Israeli military, the Gaza-based group had around 25,000 fighters in the coastal enclave before the October 7, 2023, invasion of southwestern Israel.
Since then, the IDF estimates that between 17,000 and 20,000 Gaza-based terrorists have been killed, the majority of whom were from Hamas.
Additionally, thousands have been rendered incapable of fighting due to injuries sustained during the conflict, and Israel has captured many others. Over 4,300 Gazans are currently being held by Israel, including many Hamas operatives.
Despite these significant losses, Hamas has reportedly managed to replenish its ranks, according to a report by Israel’s Channel 12.
Together with the much smaller Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization, the two terror groups now have between 20,000 to 23,000 men under arms in the Gaza Strip, the report said.
The source emphasized that regardless of the number terrorists commanded by Hamas before the war or at present, there has been a notable decline in the quality of its forces, with large numbers of untrained teenagers filling Hamas’s ranks.