The military says it has “dismantled” 20 of the original 24 Hamas battalions in Gaza, but its remaining fighters are still capable of waging a lethal insurgency.
By William Booth and Hazem Balousha, The Washington PostIsraeli soldiers rest on top of their tank on the border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, Tuesday, March 26, 2024.
Israeli officials say an offensive against Hamas militants in Rafah could be one of most difficult of the war - and last for weeks. American officials have warned that, without proper planning on how best to protect civilians, an operation there would be “a disaster.”Amid U.S.-Israeli strains, Pentagon pushes for Israel to abandon plans for major Rafah ground offensiveFor the first time, the United States did not veto, but abstained, on a U.N.
Far fewer Israeli soldiers are dying. More than 100 Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza in December; 11 troops have died so far in March. The IDF first surrounded the hospital 10 days ago with armor and troops. Special forces and paratroopers conducted the raids. The IDF and intelligence forces say they have killed 170 fighters in the area of the hospital and detained over 800 suspected militants. The numbers could not be independently confirmed.
Hamas fighters, who once carried out coordinated resistance, are now more likely to conduct guerrilla hit-and-run strikes with smaller two-to-four man units, military officials said, or with a lone sniper. The IDF claims that their forces have killed 11,500 to 13,000 Palestinian militants. They believe a few thousand other operatives might have “gone home,” or left the fight. Others, officials say, are buried in the rubble and in the tunnels.
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