US says Hamas death toll less than Israel expected – WSJ

Hamas is fighting a defensive war in familiar urban terrain with hundreds of miles of tunnels underneath. 

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

After more than three months since the war in Gaza began, the IDF has eliminated 10,000 Hamas terrorists, just one-third of the estimated 30,000 in the terrorist organization, a number falling short of Israel’s strategy to eliminate Hamas, US officials told the Wall Street Journal.

On October 7th when Hamas invaded southern Israel, murdered 1,200 people, and took 240 hostages, the IDF killed 1,000 terrorists.

From the beginning of the ground war, the IDF estimates it killed 9,000.

In addition, the IDF says that 16,000 Hamas terrorists have been severely wounded and many won’t return to fighting.

Since the beginning of the war, close to 200 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 1,200 have been wounded.

Hamas’ Health Ministry reports 24,000 Gazans have been killed, but these numbers haven’t been independently verified and they don’t distinguish between civilians and terrorists.

According to US military doctrine, a force that loses 25-30% of its troops is combat-ineffective.

However, Hamas cannot be compared to a regular army and is fighting a defensive war in familiar urban terrain with hundreds of miles of tunnels underneath.

In addition, Hamas terrorists are increasingly ambushing Israeli troops and then hiding only to emerge again and attack.

According to US estimates, Hamas terrorists have enough ammunition to continue firing at Israel for several months.

At the urging of the Biden Administration, Israel has removed some of its troops from Northern Gaza and is shifting into a more surgical phase of the war.

However, in Gaza City, an area devastated by the IDF earlier during the ground war, Hamas is already re-establishing its presence through small groups of police and emergency services to patrol the streets.

Last week, Israel was hit by rockets launched from areas the IDF had been operating just a day before.

Michael Milshtein, former head of Palestinian affairs for Israeli military intelligence told WSJ, “It’s only a matter of time if Israel will not be boots on the ground in these places and that they will also bring back the military wing.”

A senior military official commented, “You don’t have to win, you just have to not lose.”