The New York Times reported that while some Israeli officials believe the military assault on Gaza City would deliver a decisive blow to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), the group continues to set ambushes and launch attacks.
Adam Rasgon, writing from Tel Aviv, noted that Israel’s offensive has forced Hamas’s military wing to adapt its strategy—shifting from a structured army into smaller, dispersed units focused on survival and mobility. These units, he explained, now operate like guerrilla fighters, avoiding fixed positions while preparing ambushes for Israeli soldiers.
Guerrilla Tactics, Mobile Resistance
Wissam Afifa, former director of Hamas’s Al-Aqsa TV, said:
“There are no longer fixed strongholds of Hamas on the ground in the traditional military sense. What remains are mobile resistance cells fighting with guerrilla warfare tactics.”
Despite Israel’s ground invasion, the American paper concluded that Hamas remains a formidable Palestinian force in Gaza, even as hundreds of thousands of civilians—trapped in the city—either cannot or will not flee to overcrowded, resource-starved zones.
Hamas has increasingly relied on hit-and-run operations rather than direct engagement. According to Israeli security officials, the movement plants explosives in roads and residential buildings, targeting military convoys. In recent months, Hamas has circulated videos showing fighters sneaking up on Israeli tanks, armoured personnel carriers, and soldiers, opening fire before disappearing. The Israeli army itself acknowledged that around 70 soldiers have been killed in Gaza since January.
Israel’s Objective: Erasing Gaza
Last week, former CIA Director William J. Burns claimed Hamas no longer possesses the capacity to launch an operation on the scale of 7 October 2023, nor to fire large rocket barrages or halt advancing Israeli forces. Current and former Israeli security officials echoed this assessment.
Shalom Ben Hanan, a former senior official in Israel’s internal security service (Shin Bet), estimated that around 15,000 fighters remain in Gaza.
Before Israel’s full-scale assault on Gaza City, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes—hinted that Hamas’s defeat was “within reach,” a claim he has repeated throughout the war. Military analysts, however, dismiss this narrative.
Michael Milshtein, a former Israeli military intelligence officer specialising in Palestinian affairs, commented:
“It is naïve to believe that Israel can eliminate Hamas in a short time. Things simply don’t work that way.”
A War of Narratives
As Israeli forces pressed deeper into Gaza City, Hamas’s military wing announced it had prepared an “army of martyrdom fighters and thousands of ambushes.” Some Palestinian analysts, however, argue that both Israel and Hamas exaggerate the group’s strength to advance their own agendas.
Mohammed al-Astal, a political analyst based in southern Gaza, observed:
“Hamas showcases its power to pressure Israel into accepting a deal to end the war. But what Israel is doing on the ground goes far beyond eliminating Hamas—there is a widespread impression among Palestinians that Israel wants to erase Gaza and its people.”
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The palestinian resistance fighters have been preparing over the last 20 years for this guerrilla war….their skills are honed and waiting to unleash multiple guerrilla warfare tactics….
What the resistance force has forgotten , the zionist defence force still needs to learn…
Gaza will be israel’s graveyard
Just like Afghanistan became the graveyard of the Brits, the Russians and now recently the Yanks.