Hamas denies its battalions have been significantly degraded
Palestinian fighters from the armed wing of Hamas take part in a military parade in the central Gaza Strip on 19 July 2023
Levent Kemal reports in Middle East Eye on 12 December 2023:
Senior Hamas members have denied reports that the group’s Gaza battalions have been significantly degraded, days after the Israeli military said five influential Hamas commanders had been killed.
Last week, Israel’s military released an annotated photo that it said included the names and faces of recently slain Hamas commanders who led battalions and brigades in northern Gaza.
The Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, confirmed that at least three of the men had been killed, including Ahmed al-Ghandour, the head of its northern brigade. Israel has since claimed that up to 5,000 fighters, out of a total of 30,000 from the Qassam Brigades, have been killed in the past two months of fighting.
A Palestinian source, close to Hamas’s political leadership in exile, rubbished the Israeli military’s latest figures, telling Middle East Eye that the number of casualties among Qassam fighters was “very low”. When pressed for a number, the source said that the “total number of casualties is below 10 percent”.
‘In a small arms battle Hamas can inflict casualties… but close-range fighting is not enough for Hamas to achieve a victorious outcome’ – Murat Aslan, SETA. “Qassam is a military movement with a centralised structure and a loose organisational ring. We have not heard that the central forces have suffered serious casualties, except for some commanders who were outside the tunnels because of the fighting,” he said.
The source’s comments came days after Israeli forces arrested scores of Palestinian civilians sheltering near two UN-run schools in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. The Israeli army has repeatedly claimed, without providing evidence, that between 10-15 percent of the arrested men belonged to Hamas. MEE has obtained a list of the names, ages, and professions of many of those who were detained. Some are academics, journalists, teachers at UN-run schools, school students, blue-collar workers, and employees with the Palestinian Authority.
Murat Aslan, an assistant professor at Hasan Kalyoncu University and an analyst at the Ankara-based SETA think tank, said that while it was unclear whether Qassam had suffered major losses so far, moving forward, the odds were firmly stacked against the Palestinian group. “Israel has the luxury of mobilising US support and its own resources and using time as a force multiplier,” Aslan told MEE. “Israel has effectively used air, drone and fire support assets and Hamas lacks the air defences to intercept them. “In a small arms battle, of course, Hamas can inflict casualties – especially in close combat. But close-range fighting is not enough for Hamas to achieve a victorious outcome. On the other hand, Israel has the advantage of being able to retreat, soften the ground, and launch another ground operation,” he added.